


Error of Our Ways

by Mamuzelkc



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Crossing Timelines, Drabbles, Errortale, F/M, Gaster Blaster Sans, Gaster Sans, InkTale, MY BABIES, Other, Post-Apocalypse, Scientist Sans, Storyshift, Tiny Sans, Underfell, Underfresh - Freeform, Will add more tags as we go, agent sans, and here we see a badly written plot in its natural trashabitat, antitale, babybones sans, bittybones sans, everybody yo, him and paps, oc is also named sans because timeline shenanigans, omg loverofpiggies i am so sorry, only he can save the world, outertale, reader is female, see notes for sans ownership, seraphim sans, smol skelly, theres a wild plot somewhere i can feel it, timelines galore, told you paps would be in there, toucan sans, underdarkness, underswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-05-29 04:21:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6359113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mamuzelkc/pseuds/Mamuzelkc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>WHY. WHY DO THESE THINGS HAPPEN. WHY DO TIMELINES EXIST.</p><p>WHY ARE THERE SKELETONS.</p><p>You are so confused.</p><p>[Tags have been revised. Mostly only AU names are in the tags. For the included characters and ownerships, please see fic notes.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Genesis and Revelations

A hop. A skip. A jump. Living is breathing and knowing you exist. But you don't exist. In this moment everything exists and it's scary. Except you. You can't feel anything except pain.

Your brother calls to you. Is he calling your name? "...-___!!!" Yeah, that's your name. It's your name, but it's not. Not since you joined the United States Airforce. Intelligence forces.

Agent Sans. You are in charge of timeline theory and development. Time machines and shit. Really you were in charge of designing the stupid machine that is sucking up your world. Right now. Spitting out black and white and color that you can't even begin to comprehend. Your team got the calculations wrong. _You doomed them._

"____, h-help me!!!" You watched in muted horror as your grasping hand missed his and he was sucked up too. What was keeping you attached here? Right. Your other grasping hand, desperately holding onto a broken pipe sticking out from the floor.

Your whole life was getting sucked up into the infinite void. You had created some sick black hole and now you were going to die. Why? Because you had desperately wanted to find some other world in which you were actually important, you  _fucking narcissist_ , as your only family and friends were killed _by your hands_?

"Agent Sans, what....w-what do we...do...?!" You look over at your friend, Agent Alphys. He had been put in charge of building the machine. A squat, blonde boy, slowly being sucked into the void you had created with your idiocy. You _idiot_. "I-I....I can't h-hold o-o-on much longer...-"

The noise that left your throat was inhuman. He was sucked up too. The look of betrayal in his eyes killed you.

You blacked out.

* * *

 

When you regained consciousness, it was pitch-black all around you. There were weird stars all around you, and you wanted to touch them. What happened? Right. You fucked up. You couldn't compose your shocked brain to care. You should feel horrified. You should feel grief.

You should feel...something.

You felt....numb.

You rolled over and stared into the ever-lasting pitch around you. You felt unwanted here. Like you didn't belong and you needed to leave _now_. Someone didn't want you here. Who were you? What were you? What was that? You shifted and stared at a bright star floating near you. When you reached out to touch it, a bright blue string yanked it away. You felt something finally - frustration. You reached out again, this time with more vigor.

 

" _ **Ȋ̲ͨ̎̋ͫ̚** **w͕̻** **ő̘͓̤͕͎ͨ̓͋ͧ̓ͩ ̱̻͚̻͖̈́ͣͨͦ͂͊̎̄̋u͕̻̼̖̥͈̝ͥ͗̈́̊̓̆ ̊ͪ͐̊̾ḻ͊͌͌ͤ d͍͓͓͌ͨ͗̚ ̤̗͚͇̝̓̑͒͆́ͩn̍ ͧ'̋̉ ̰͔̰͎̦̙̱͋̊̊ͭ̚t͌̾̓͂̅̆ ̙͕͔̟̯̙̜̓̿ͣ̽iͯ̅̀̉ ͕̼͚̼̣̦͍f͎̟̠ͨ ͒ͫIͮ̈́ͪ ̥̩̮͇͛́͗ͭͣ̀ẇ ̒̀e͍̺͓̹͇̦͈̎̂ ̼͎͕̮͔̘̱̖ͪ̅ͅr̯ ̱͎̦͔̥͊ͭ̔͌͊e̮͗̈ͤͦ̀ͅ y̍̾̌̈́͛͑́ ̞͕̤̖̓o̞̱͖̠̮͔̦ ͍͉ͅu̗͇ͧ ̻͗ͮ.͓̼̪͔̤͊**_ "

 

The voice sounded distorted and  _so messed up_. You couldn't place where it was coming from. You decide to ignore it in favor of the pretty star that was hovering inches from your outstretched limb.

 

" _ **S͍̠̼̰͓͖̩̼̋͐͛ͨ̋͌ͤ̚͘ ̡͇͎̘͎̻͑̃̏ͅŢ̸͑҉̞̻̙̞ O̷̸̱̥̺͎͎͖͉ͨͬ̈́̾́ͯ͆ͬ ̧͎̟͔͔͍ͬ̕Pͩ̀̐̊ͣ͏̢̫̠̳**_ "

 

It rang through your head and pierced your brain like needles, but you did not relent. You felt...curiosity, pain. It was a welcome sensation, a dragging release from the nothing around you. Your troubles were forgotten and you reached out a last time and brushed the star with your fingertip.

You began plummeting.

Something black and yellow and red reached for you before you dropped onto a solid surface. It was dark and cold. You couldn't breathe, but you could  _feel_ again. Your lungs struggled for air and you vaguely recalled feeling like you had been spat out of....somewhere.

You looked around, desperate to find the star, desperate to find a light. Your eyes caught the glinting of metal from a flickering light. You noted the light was only glaring off of the metal from some crack behind you. So it seemed you were.....back in the lab. Ah...the lab. You pulled yourself to you feet. You were bare as the day you were born, naked from....whatever place you had been to having stripped you to the core.

"Hello?" Your voice shook. You knew it was hopeless. The only people who were allowed down here had been sucked into the black hole. That hole was gone, leaving a mess of metal and death in its wake. You shakily opened the door - the source of the crack of light behind you - revealing a hall with one single flickering light. It looked like something out of a horror flick. Especially when the light flickered off, then on long enough to reveal a black shadowed figure, then off again. You heard a shriek and realized it was your own.

It was totally just your mind playing tricks on you! You reasoned with yourself and continued down the familiar passage. You stopped in only one room to gather a lab coat and trudged on, gripping the tweed fabric between cold fingers. You had to get out of here. You had to leave. You had to  _go_.

You stopped in front of an elevator. All was pitch black, but you knew it was there. Your hand hovered over a sensor.  _Damn. Not working._ You were deep underground and the only way out was fucking  _broken_. Okay, don't panic. You focused your mind on home. A calm, serene house in the woods filled your mind. You believed you would get back there. You knew you would. So you turned around and yOU FUCKING WHAT  _JUST HAPPENED WHERE THE FUCK_. 

Okay. Deep breaths.

You were home.

_How._

_The fuck._

_Were you home._

* * *

The first thing you did was vomit. Projectile vomit. It was a terrible time for everyone involved. You, the trees, the animals,  _everybody_.

Seemed reasonable at the time.

The next thing you did was cry. Also pretty reasonable, you assured yourself.

Then you dragged yourself inside. The house was empty. Maybe the rest of your family had already left? Maybe you were lucid dreaming? Probably lucid dreaming. Probably, you were going crazy. You smiled and hoped you had died.

You trudged up the stairs to the second floor where your makeshift apartment (really just the mother-in-law suite) awaited you. You looked at your clock. **8:15 pm** it read. You showered a hot shower. You didn't notice the water go cold 40 minutes later. You turned off the water and dried yourself, then stepped out of the bathroom, daring a glance at the alarm clock by the bed again.

**11:42 pm**

Your skin was pretty pruny. You felt like death. You still didn't know if you were dead. You hoped you were. You deserved it after what you did to-

 

" _ **S͏̸̢ơ.͞.͡.̴y̴̶͟o͜u̶͟ ҉mad͜e̡͢ ̛͝i̴t ̀͘i̸͡n̨tó ́͠án ̸̧e̡͡mp͢t̴͘y ̕͏̢ĺi҉͞n̴͡e.̴͝ ̶͟I͏̷'͢͞m̛͡ ̢͝impre̸s̷̕͟s͟ed͢ ̵̨̀t̵o ͜say̵ ͟͞t͘͢͡h̛e̵͡ ̕҉l͟eá̵şt̀͡.̧ ̛I͝ ͡u͡s̴̡uà͞͠l̵ly͘͠ ͏̷don̷'̴̢̨t ́f͜͠in͜͝d̴ ̷̨͏th̛͝e̷s̶͘͟e̛ ̶҉a̛͜ ͟n̷͜ ̀͝ơ ̸͡m͟ ͏a͟ ĺ̶͡ ͏̵͝i̷̧ ̵͘e͠͡ ̢s̛҉ ́ś̡o͞ e̷̢aśi͘̕l͡͏y̵͟.̛͢͠**_ "

 

A voice breathed into your mind.

 _Into your fucking mind_.

You were definitely crazy.

 

" _ **F̛i̴͟͞r̀s҉̡t̶͜,̢̨ y͘͜͢oư̶ i̴̢nv̛͞ád̵ȩ m̛ý ̛͘h͏̶o̸m̵̧͠ę͟.͞͠ ̢͜͟T̷he̛n̕ yo̵͝ứ̡ ̢͝i̴n͏va̶d҉̵̷e ́m͞y̧̢̕ j̕̕͢ǫ̷҉b.̡́͘ Ẃ̨h͢a͏҉̢t̷͘ ̛dǫ y͏o͠ų͜ ́͢w̷̷a͠nt̸̕͢,̴ ̴h̵͟u̕m̧̡a͘͘ń͝? ͘͜W̛h̢a͞t͟ ̸̵m̵̀͢o҉̕r͟e͏̶ ̀͝c͘a͜n̨̢ ̷y̧ou̕ ̧̀t̴͟a͠҉̶ḱ̴é̀̕ ͜f̛͡r͟o̧͏m ̨͘m̢̛ę̀?͡͞ ̸͏̨S̷h́o̵͜u͘͏̸l͟d͘ ̸̨̨I̸ ̀go̷͞ ͢a̷̢͠h̕e̛a̵d͏ ͟͜a͏̵͝n̨͠d͏͡ ̨e̵҉ ̡͟r̷͞ ̸a͢͝ ̕d́ ͟҉̧i ̸̵c ̡̨͝a̵͟ ̢͢͡t͏ ̸e̸ y̵̵ ̴͟͡ǫ̴͞ ҉u̷̷ ̷̀͞n̛ ͏o̶̕ ̵͞͝w͟ ̧͝?̧**_ "

 

The voice drawled on in your head, gaining irritation as it continued. The deep baritone felt so warm and inviting yet so thrilling and dangerous. The static was driving you crazy, though.

"G O A W A Y ! ! !" You screamed and clutched your aching temples.

Whoever or whatever it was - it did.

You realized at that moment your head had been filled with static and it was perfectly welcome for it to leave. You pinched yourself. You were not dreaming. You were not dreaming.

You were having a panic attack. You weren't crazy. _You weren't dreaming_.

 ** _You couldn't wake up_**.

* * *

You only realized you had blacked out again when you woke up on your bedroom floor, still naked, only slightly damp as a reminder of the shower long forgotten. You spared a glance at the clock. Its red letters glowed brightly in the darkness.

**3:12 am**

Time meant nothing to you if you couldn't figure out what hell you had placed yourself in. You hummed and quietly shuffled to your closet to properly dress yourself. Relaying the facts to yourself would set yourself straight enough to design a plan. It's what you were good at.

Fact #1: A bright blue flower patterned sundress would definitely make you feel better.

Fact #2: You had a constant buzzing sound in your head that you were pretty sure is caused by whoever that voice is.

Fact #3: You can teleport? Actually, you may file that under your list of hypotheses.

Fact #3:  ~~You can teleport?~~  Nothing seemed to exist. This world was apparently devoid of life. No car horns blaring even though you know you lived in the city. No calls even though you were a busy enough woman it was a constant buzzing on your phone, begging your attention.

Fact #4: Your phone is missing.

Fact #5: Your name was ____. Your name was Agent Sans. You didn't know who you were anymore.

Actually...

Sans was fine. Sans the human.

It had a nice ring to it.

 

 


	2. Tyrannosaurus Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You, Agent Sans, explore the ruins of your world. That voice won't shut the fuck up. You meet an asshole. You find a dragon.

When you wandered around your property it was usually during the day. The sun had not even peeked above the horizon yet, currently, basking the world in a cold blue through the eery fog surrounding you. The 3 minute walk up your driveway proved unyielding in answers. All was quiet, all was peaceful. You stepped into the cul-de-sac at the end of your driveway and spared a glance back into the foggy woods your home was nestled in.

When you turned back you breathed in the crisp air and screamed. Your voice rang through the street and filled the world with the noise of human life it had been clearly missing. The grin that split your face was akin to the Cheshire cat. Your bare feet scrabbled on the pavement and you laughed, running up the street easily. As your dress fluttered in the wind you felt like a runaway princess tasting freedom for the first time.

You were probably going crazy. Just a little bit.

Finding the town in the dense fog was easy considering your recollection of your life before...this. Every shop looked like it had been closed down for years. So...supplies raided from there were apparently not an option. Sections of the town, however, looked like fireballs had rained from the sky and destroyed them so thoroughly only black craters remained in their wake. Deer and squirrels and birds roamed freely throughout what used to be civilization. You decided to stop and rest. You were getting hungry, your feet were aching from lack of footwear while you were running on asphalt, and the sun had already come out and was shining brightly and  _hot as fuck_.

"So, where to go? Where to go?" You mused more to yourself than the family of rabbits nibbling on a stray patch of grass near you.

 

" ** _A̶w͘̕a̸͟y͏̛.̡̀_** "

 

Your head shot up and you looked around. It was that  _voice_ again. The distorted one from the black place. "Hello? What the fuck?"

 

" _ **G̡o ̛͞a͘w̷̶̸a̧y͏̢̕. Yơ̧͏ú̶̶ ̢s̸h̵o̸͘̕u͏̕͜l̸̶̛d̨͟n̨͢͜'͟͡t̵ ̨̛b̛͏e ̢h̀͟͝e̡r͞e͠.̨̕̕**_ "

 

"No! This is my town, and whatever you are, you can't make me leave!" You shouted and noticed the family of rabbits scuffle away in fright at the sudden noise. "Now look, the bunnies are scared 'cause you've gone and made me angry! Rude jerk. Just...get out of my head!" Sweat dripped from your every pore in the heat as you began running again, not really caring where you were going.

You ran out of breath quickly and collapsed to your knees in somebody's lawn.  _Fuck_ you were  _so tired_. You lied down on the grass and stared into the pretty blue sky. This was your favorite color - a serene cyan sky blue. Not a cloud in sight. Mt. Ebbot looming in the distance. It was a fine day.

The hell is that?

Some kind of dragon thing was flying in the distance?

"What the hell?"

"My exact thoughts."

You screamed and jumped away from the new voice. Was it that voice in your head again?! No-

"Nice to meet you, too." Despite the polite greeting, the person you had spun around to find held a glare of contempt on their...skeletal....face.

* * *

You heard clanging and banging and your eyes shot open. Shit. You had blacked out  _again_. Dammit. You looked to the source of the noise and found the skeleton man stacking furniture and other sundries against every door and window of the home you currently occupied. Through the cracks between the appliances lining the windows you noted the sun seemed to be setting.

"Hey, you're finally up." He noted and continued his work. You took this opportunity to assess him and your surroundings. He was a squat skeleton. He seemed to wear some sort of royal purple...smock? It had some kind of emblem on the front. Upon inspection you recognized the familiarity. It was the same symbol your team had been assigned as a way to denote your company. He finally turned to look at you and was speaking again. Shit, what?

"...-o we can keep that  _thing_ out." He put his hands on his hips. "Got it? So get to work  _human_."

"...huh?" You tilted your head and squinted at him like he had just spoken some strange language.

"Oh. My. God. This is why humans can't be trusted for anything." He huffed and stormed out of the room. You sat up on the couch he had presumably dragged you to. Your dress was wrinkled and you straightened it when you stood. Standing didn't last very long, you felt dizzy. Must be an after effect of passing out so much. Suddenly you heard and felt your stomach grumble  **loudly**.

"I'm hungryyyyyyy....." You complain loud enough (you assume) for the man to hear. Wait, was he a man? You shouldn't assume, maybe they prefer other pronouns. You didn't even know their name. "Hey! Buddy, chum, pal, amigo, friend, home slice, bread slice, you hear me?"

His muffled reply came from another room. You walked into what was probably the kitchen/dining room and saw him raiding the pantry. "I heard you the first time. Unless you wanna eat expired milk I suggest you help me find something edible,  _human_." You gave a sigh. There it was again, that title being spat out.

"Why do you say human like that? Like it's some kind of burn? You're the freak here. No meat on your bones. I bet I could take you down  _easy_." You smirked as he stiffened and swung around to face you.

"How  **dare** you?! I am a KING you filthy animal, and you will respect my AUTHORITY!" His bass voice resounded through the kitchen and you chuckled.

"Homie, there's only one king and they live in England. You must be  _crazy_." Hell you must be a little crazy yourself. You were imagining talking skeleton royalty and  _dragons_ like it was an everyday thing. Hell, you were wearing a dress so ofcourse you couldn't resist. "If you're a king, that makes that thing outside a dragon and I'm a  _princess_. Maybe you should be bowing down to me?" You winked and laughed at his flustered blue face. After sauntering over to the pantry you hummed in quiet concern over the clear lack of food. It had already been raided, perhaps?

"Almost nothing is left. I've been here for who knows how long, watching that  _thing_ circle the mountain like a predator."

"Hmmm...I guess you could say it's really been..."

"Don't you dare."

"...DRAGon."

"Oh my god. Puns are for plebians. Clearly you wouldn't know that,  _filth_." He scoffed and leaned back in the shoddy wooden chair. "Find anything yet?"

So he had been the one eating the food here? Hm. "Hey, I've got an idea. Well, more like a hypothesis. Wanna help me test it? Or are you gonna be a royal pain about it?" You grinned wide at him and his frown upturned slightly at your punning. Heh, he was cracking.

You outstretched your arms to him. His disapproval was clear. "I don't touch humans. Had a couple bad instances with....a few...." He grimaced and you reached to him further.

"C'mon King. Lemme try!" He huffed and offered his ring-adorned hand.

"Fine. But don't get too....touchy-feely." You grasped his hand and began your experiment.

* * *

You wouldn't stop heaving. King had already backed up and looked away from you into the dark forest spanning your property.

Apparently you could teleport. That was pretty cool. Also, the static had begun again and you felt like death. The distorted voice in your head was silent but you knew whoever it belonged to was still there. Since there was nothing in your stomach a small puddle of stomach bile had formed below your parted lips on the grass.

"Whenever you find it easy to stand again, human, I will be waiting inside of your.....small mansion."

"M-my...name....is....A-a-agent....S-sanssss....." You breathed out and crawled to a tree to try to catch your balance again.

What you didn't see was your accompaniment stiffen and whip around to look at you, left eye blazing with violent blue color and magic. What you saw was the bark of the tree warbling because your eyes couldn't focus. "I assume...*huff* your *wheeze* n-name.....*wretch* isn't k-k-king...?"

"I-" He stopped. "Yes, it is, actually." He didn't tell you the truth, you knew, but you played along anyway. Everyone's got their secrets.

"Foooooood..." You moaned in pain and shuffled hunched over to the gate barring access to your back yard. King followed as you located your spare key and unlocked the back door. You flicked a switch and hummed in happiness as your lights to your living room actually switched on.

"How do you afford this place, hum- er...S...Sans?" Heh, King sounded nervous.

"Actually, it's...uh....m-my parents place....I rent from them." You stepped through the large kitchen into your walk-in pantry. Food, glorious food lined the shelves. He shuffled in behind you and grabbed your shoulders. The world lurched as you fell into his grasp.

"You haven't had anything to eat so let me fix spaghetti for you. My bro taught me how when we were still...er....nevermind, it doesn't matter. Go lay down." You nodded and obeyed the king, stumbling out to the living room once again and flopping onto the couch. Sleep overcame you before you could register the sweet scent of tomatoes wafting from the kitchen. The last thing you remember before succumbing to the growing dark was the voice.  _That voice_.

 

" _ **S͜͞e̢é͘ ̢̀͢y̨҉҉̨ó̕ứ̷ ̢́̀͝͞ş̵ò̡͟͠o̴͜ņ́́̕.̴̵͡͠**_ "

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez reader, you black out a lot. Get a hold of yourself.


	3. Let's Do the Fork in the Garbage Disposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ting ting ting ti-ting ting ting ti-ting ting ting ting ting ti-ting ting ti-ting ting! You fall into shenanigans. Again. King saves you. King also saves a babybones. What a babe. You also might be a mom now. NO BIG DEAL.

" _Butter_  be careful what you  _spread_ around. Words can get pretty  _slick_ and you might find yourself in a  _slippery_ situation."

"S T O O O P."

You chuckled. "What, not feeling so  _toasty_? I thought you were  _bread_ er than this!"

"I haven't even had my breakfast yet and you're already pestering me." King glared at you over a bowl of stale Cheerios.

"No need to be so  _cereal_ about it! You started it with your mean words."

"....quit...uh.... _fruit_ ing around!" He seemed pretty proud of that one. You laughed loudly and moved outside with your buttered toast.

"Timeline theory is a valid employment specialty. Especially when you're serving your country."

"Should've just taken it over if you know so well." His words held a sort of background to them you didn't bother looking into. He hadn't answered to your prying before, he won't start now. He followed you when he finished and you both stared into the woods. Rain pitter pattered all around the property. It was serene save for the buzz of static in your brain. It hadn't left you and frankly you had gotten to the point you just ignored it now.

"Hey, Kingy, you think there's others?" You looked into the dark forest and sighed.

He didn't seem to hold any optimism for your question. "There's no way. We would have found someone else by now. I just wish we could find- er..."

"It's okay." You stopped him short, and he looked at you with gratefulness filling his eye...er, sockets. Eye sockets.

You wouldn't make him continue either. When you two raided your stash of cheap liquor shots he ended up with his skull in your lap crying over his brother. You weren't told his name, but you had told him at the time you had a brother you lost, too. He was King's Right-hand man. They had taken over his kingdom when a human had slaughtered all of their friends. Apparently that was where his hatred of humans and pompous attitude came from. You hadn't talked about it since, and frankly, didn't really want to bring it up either. You did feel the skeleton king was warming up to you, however. You knew that was who he was looking for.

You straightened to bow of your dress and nudged King. "Wanna do some... _soul_ searching?" You winked and he groaned and rolled his eyes. You caught the tiny smile he gave you before it disappeared into a scowl. Your grin was maniacal. When you danced out into the rain and splashed in puddles he looked at you like you were crazy.

You definitely were.

You weren't too crazy about getting soaking wet when you tripped and fell into a puddle the size of Michigan. Actually, it kind of bore resemblance to its shape, too. You filed that away for stories to tell later.

King chuckled and sauntered back inside, calling behind himself to you, "Hey, quit messing around or I'll have to take care of you while you're sick. I don't wanna repeat  _that_ again. We can search later."

"Coming!" You raced back inside and up the stairs to change into a dry dress.

* * *

The weather shifted and you found yourself hiding in the concrete bunker that was your basement with King. He huddled on the spare bed while you fiddled with a kid's puzzle. He huffed and glared at the dim lamp on the floor.

"I'm getting hungry again..." You mused. He turned his face to you.

"So go get some food, moron."

"I'm not gonna just  _storm_ up there  _weather_ or not I'm hungry!" You grabbed at his hand which he immediately pulled away from your reach. There was a crash upstairs which left you scrambling onto the bed with King in fright. "Sh-shit!"

"You....really don't like storms, huh?" It wasn't necessarily true. You didn't like the idea that you might die in a storm. Storms themselves didn't frighten you. you liked to watch them  _from afar_.

"N-no, just....come with me?" Your look of pure childish fear elicited a sigh from the skeleton. He reluctantly followed you up the stairs, however. You made your way into the dark kitchen. Branches outside scraped the windows as the wind howled from the- "Did we leave the door open?"

"N-no..." The king took a protective stance in front of you, his smock billowing slightly from the draft coming in. "Grab something quick, we're gonna book it back downstairs."

You nodded and grabbed a granola bar, the closest nourishment to you. It took all of ten steps to make it back to the stairwell, but you didn't make it downstairs. Something grabbed your arm and covered your mouth to silence your scream. You kicked the door to the basement, sending it flying into the wall and alerting King to your kidnapping. The figure grunted and shifted away, releasing you. The static got louder in your head making it impossible to discern what King was shouting to you. Behind you? He ran around you and stood between you and whatever had grabbed you. "What do you want?! You'd better not hurt Sans again or you're gonna have a r e a l l y b a d t i m e."

A few dozen glowing blue bones formed in the area surrounding you two. It was really pretty, but you weren't focused on that detail. You were focused on the figure illuminated dimly in the opposite end of the hall. "K-k-king....wh-what is tha-at thing?" He growled in response and shifted to block your body with his own.

"Go to the basement. I'll handle this."

"But what is-"

"I  **command you to _go to the basement Sans. N o w_**."

His sudden tone startled you out of your stupor. The bones spin dangerously close to you, but you dodged around them to hover at the basement door. "King, please-"

He looked back at you. It was a mistake on his part because at that moment the figure opened its maw and lunged for him. You screamed and tackled King trying to save him from the attacker. It worked; the figure zoomed over you two. You felt shaky and pummeled and didn't notice the open wounds on your skin from brushing the glowing bones until you had already regained your sense of balance. You were now firmly laid on top of King, with him looking  _severely_ pissed off. The creature looked back at you and with a flash of lightning you finally got a clear view. It looked like a skeleton dinosaur thing. Its head was that of a bovine skull, with a tail that swished back and forth. It blocked the door to the basement. King wrapped his arms around you and snarled at the creature.

"Sans, close your eyes." You reluctantly obeyed, burying your face in his chest. The last thing you saw was your blood staining the emblem on his smock before everything went pitch black.

* * *

You two dropped onto a soft surface with a quiet pop. Springs creaked beneath you and the storm sounded louder. King still clutched you tightly. You glanced up at his face. His left eye glowed brightly, a beautiful azure against infinite black. It scared you.

"You ok, King...?" You backed off of him slowly. He seemed bone-trussled but not hurt.

"you're hurt..." He spoke quietly and all the light he emitted suddenly dimmed.

"I-I-I'm ok!" Your voice shook but you still tried to put on a brave face. "I'm probably in shock at the moment, so I can't really feel the damage, but it's not your fault, King. It'll be okay! Please, I need you to help me out here. We need some bandages, and we need to figure out where we ended up." You slid off of the soft furniture you had landed on and shuffled to the window. You weren't entirely sure where you were.

"Remember when we met? We're back at that house." King got up and opened a door. "Come sit back on the bed. I'm going to use these clothes as bandages for you."

It was unnerving how much he knew about wounded humans, you thought.

It wasn't long after he dressed your wounds that you fell asleep, exhausted from the earlier fight and immediate teleportation. It only grazed the back of your mind for a moment that  _you didn't teleport. King did._

King shuffled downstairs while you slept and took in his surroundings. He thought back on the creature that had attacked you two. It had been made completely out of bones. Just like the flying creature that dutifully prowled Mt. Ebbot those few weeks he had stayed in this house. Just like him and his brother. A crash in the kitchen put him back on edge. Glowing blue bones hovered around him again, summoned in a split second to defend him and the defenseless human upstairs. A whimper resounded and he peeked around the corner.

A child laid on the floor, crying, having been pinned under the refrigerator. It had presumably toppled onto them when they were trying to reach the stale moldy bread that had been on top on the unit - if the step stool nearby and their current position were any indication. They cried miserably, flailing and slapping against the fridge. Their sobs eventually subsided into whimpers. King dismissed the magic bones and calmly approached them. "Hey, kid-" His hand and left eye glowed blue, and with a flick of his wrist, the fridge was lifted up and away from the quivering child. "-you should really  _chill out_ or you're gonna get killed." Heh. He was proud of that one, and he was sure Agent Sans would be too.

"I-it....E-e-everything....hurts...." The little boy(?) groaned in pain and rolled on his side. King rolled his eyes and towered over him.

"Get up, it's not that bad." The boy's sobs were driving him craz-

"King...? What's going on?" You had just stepped into the room, rubbing sleep from your eyes and limping, finally feeling the dull ache from your wounds. "I heard a crash and I got worried about you..." Your sleepy eyes focused and you were startled to fully awaken when a heap moved on the floor. "K-king!"

"Hey, take it easy, Sans. Some kid apparently took up residence while we were away." He gestured to the sobbing child on the floor. You frowned and walked over to kneel beside them.

"I thought everyone was gone...?" You rolled the child over to comfort th- FUCKING SKELETON AGAIN WHAT THE HELL. You dropped him like a rock and scooted back. "KING IT'S ANOTHER SKELETON."

He grumbled and inspected the boy closer. Indeed, it was a skeleton. He was dressed in an oversized black hoodie and gym shorts, no shoes. "Boy, get up, now."

"But I h-hurt so baaaaaddd..." He sobbed and clutched his legs and skull. You felt sorry for the poor thing and dared to approach. "P-please don't h-h-hurt me!" He started making a keening sound and you hissed as the static did not mix well with that particular noise in your mind.

"Shhhh sh sh sh ssshhhhh sweet baby, come here..." You sighed in relief when he stopped and the static droned back into the back of your mind, where it  _belonged dammit_. Your arms encircled his tiny bony body and you began to rock him slowly. "We won't hurt you. We'd never hurt you, sweet thing." You looked to King for support, of which he provided  _none_. Naturally.

"Sans, we don't know if he's dangerous or not." Both you and the skeletal child looked up at King.

"H-how do you know my name?" Now that piqued your curiosity.

"Huh...small world....that's my name, kiddo." He tilted his head and pulled away from you slightly. "Who exactly are you...?" You asked him gently.

"Sans.....Sans the skeleton."

Well, shit. "That's gonna make things a little confusing." King voiced your exact thoughts. Well...paraphrased thoughts.

"Well, alright. This is King-" You gestured to King, "and I'm Agent Sans."

"W-what?" the little boy looked bone-trussled, too. Fuck. "B-but-"

"I know, sweety, I know. Hm...I'll just call you Baby for now, til we think of something better, okay?" He seemed slightly uncomfortable, but nodded regardless.

The storm had subsided in the meantime, leaving the quiet pitter patter of rain you and King had awoken to. You hoped it was a sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew a thing. Reader-chan, you're so *cuuuuuute*  
> http://ohshitfuckimhoestuck.tumblr.com/image/141803132737


	4. Doing a Whole Lot of Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some very important details are pointed out by your babybones. You cannot teleport anymore, which is weird? King Stickuphisass is actually a huge fuzzball. You cannot skip rocks to save your life.

It had been about three or four days since you last teleported. You wouldn't tell him, but you knew King could teleport and for some reason you could not. You had before, why not now? Unless you really were still in the lab living out some sick fantasy full of dead magic people in your brain. You hoped King didn't notice the glances you turned his way when you figured he wasn't looking.

He totally did. Babybones Sans was skipping rocks across an old dirty pond while instructing a distracted King on the proper mechanic of rock-skipping. You had tried multiple times to skip them as well, but apparently you didn't have the finesse of a fucking ten year old skele-baby. You were so jealous. King eyed you suspiciously. You hadn't stopped watching him since the day you two discovered Baby.

"King, if you're done checking out Mama Sans-"

"'m not 'checking her out'."

"-how about you check out the right shape of rock. Notice that it-"

"Why do you call the human that?"

"-has a distinct flat-yet-oval shape, and weighs approximately-"

"Why can't you just throw it?"

"-20 grams. The trick is to spin it, so it corrects itself before-"

King tossed a jagged piece of gravel into the lake with a loud plunk.

"-it even hits the water. Are you even listening?" Despite his obvious annoyance, Baby had a smile a mile wide on his little chubby face. "No! Because you won't stop staring at Mama Sans! I thought you hated humans?" King growled and reached for the child, who easily dodged him, giggling and prancing away. You glared at King, only having caught the tail end where he had attempted to capture Baby.

"Come here, Baby. I wouldn't want you to be treading on the  _princess_." King rolled his eyes and your precious cinnamon roll stuck his tongue out. He was too good for this world, too pure. "Stop harassing the angel." King didn't respond. You let Baby climb up to ride piggy back on you and your little troupe moved away from the lake.

* * *

You three stopped inside of an old church. "Do you believe in any gods, King?" Baby was rummaging through a folder of piano hymnals. King scoffed.

"No. Science has determined that the universe-"

"I know, I know, but....I mean....do you ever think there's some higher power controlling us? Making different timelines using us as their proxies? Our every choice is a different path for  _them_ to choose?" You gazed thoughtfully at the broken statue of Jesus Christ. "I was a devout Wiccan before I began my job for the airforce. After I began fiddling with timeline theory and physics and all that, I- we-.....it just.....got more and more evident that I wasn't the one in control anymore. It...it  _scares_ me to think we might just be some made up fictional characters in someone else's world. and every character we make up is their fucked up way of breaking the metaphorical fourth wall and tell us we are nothing more than a simulation."

King swallowed.

"MAMA SANS I FOUND SOMETHING." Baby brought over a small device.

"Baby, you gotta be more specific." You tore yourself away from the spot you had inadvertantly glued yourself to. King remained rigid.

The child held out his little bony hands to hand you a rectagular-

"OH MY SWEET BABY JESUS ALIVE MY PHONE!" You lifted the baby bones up and spun him around. "Sweety, I've been looking for this for a few weeks now!"

He was so happy to make you happy.

It didn't take much fiddling to realize the phone was dead. You sighed and continued raiding. The church luckily had a kitchen which unluckily only had a few moldy apples and a Twix. Mmmmm Twix. You reluctantly gave it to Baby. King had taken a seat in the piers, so you went to join him while Baby devoured the candy and went back to exploring. King tensed up and you sighed.

"Listen, dude, you don't have to be so untrusting. I really thought we were getting somewhere? Just 'cause I'm human doesn't mean I'm necessarily gonna  _hurt_ you." He stared into the broken stained glass windows lining the walls. The sun had begun to set.

"..." His teeth were clicking against each other almost inaudibly. "...It's not that. It's not you. I knew this kid once...they- the kid- I had to protect my kingdom and-" His bones rattled. You gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "-th-th-they k-killed him- they kill-"

"King, it's okay. It'll be okay." You wrapped your arm around him fully and nuzzled his shoulder. His erratic breathing slowed after a few moments. "I'm gonna....I'm gonna check on Baby." You shuffled away from him.

You didn't see the tears he hastily wiped from this cheekbones.

* * *

King stood atop the church staring into the sky. The stars glinted in the inky sky. He reached a hand up as if to grasp them. You rested inside, curled up to Baby Sans, snoring lightly. He had volunteered to stay up and guard you three. He did not mention it was because he needed to gather his broken overflowing emotions.

He hated the humans for what they did. He hated Frisk for killing his brother. He  _hated_ the human race. He cut all friendly ties with everyone he knew to try to rule the Underground more strictly. His rough outer edges were there specifically to protect the monsters he held dear. He understood Asgore a little better with each passing day.

And then the hole swallowed him up.

He barricaded himself in that tiny house for exactly two months and eleven days. He counted each one so his mind would not wander to darker thoughts. And then you came. A human. He watched you collapse on the front lawn-  _very unlike Frisk who stood despite the bones protruding from their tiny body_.

He watched you ponder the dragon-  _unlike Frisk who did not ask questions and took no answers_.

He watched you sleep.

Frisk had never slept.

You were actually kinda cute...

Like a bunny! He quickly amended and mentally slapped himself. Shit. And he needed to get that kid to shut up. He kept voicing some really intrusive thoughts. But...at the same time....he needed to get the kid to talk. The kid had the same name. Had the same old worn hoodie from his childhood.  _Looked exactly like him as a baby bones_.

He hoped his theory wasn't true, but if it was....

 

 

 

...the timelines were beginning to converge, dumping every version of himself into the same chaotic plane of existence.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow??? Omg??? You guys. Are. The best. 10 kudos and 2 bookmarks and its only ch. 4! I'm! So!!! Happy!!!!! Again, I'd like to remind everyone that requests are welcome. This is a series of drabbles with a loose plot. Everyone is welcome. Golly gee gaiz you make me feel so fuzzy~
> 
> BONUS: http://ohshitfuckimhoestuck.tumblr.com/post/141912911757/realized-i-probably-got-more-than-redhaired-white
> 
> ^^^for my african amaerican reader-chans^^^


	5. Prank Gone Wrong. Horribly, Horribly Wrong.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King doesn't know what personal space is. Baby finds a smol friend. Shenanigans in-bound. Mayday! Mayday! Ship on the starboard bow! We're going down!

If you had a penny for every time King has "accidentally" invaded your space...

If King had a gold piece for every time he's accidentally invaded your space...

You two would be  _very_ rich.

Not that King wasn't already rich. Being King came with its perks. However, no amount of money in the world could be paid to change your sour opinion of him. It wasn't his fault you were always in the same area as him when he was trying to do  **anything**.

Baby was having a laugh. Torturing hot-headed King was his favorite past-time and when his Mama Sans told him about April 1st? Oh man. He was BORN ready.

The plan was simple. Get you and King in the same room (not hard), get King covered in wax, drop feathers on him, and  _laugh_. It was gonna be priceless, and he couldn't wait to see your face when it happened. Oh man, he  _loved_ the look of joy on your face when he pranked King. He was getting very good at it. You used a phrase once...what was it...? Ah, yes.  _Get dunked on_.

And the flustered look on King's face combined with the highly annoyed pout of yours whenever Baby used his magic to shove King in your direction, effectively forcing him to invade your bubble was freaking  **awesome**.

Baby waited behind a pillar while you and King strolled the corridors of the museum you three had found. He almost didn't hear it over the hum of his magic begging to be released.

"hey."

He screamed and jumped no less than 10 feet in the air. No, really, his magic burst and shot him straight up. When he came back down, his bony butt made a loud  **crack** against the marble tile. The magic holding the bowl of wax and bucket of feathers in the air released both, dumping them...directly onto himself. The wails from his mouth following were loud and sent you into a panic. You whipped around and zoomed into the large open room he had placed himself in, King running at your heels with as much fervor.

"BABY?!  _BABY WHERE A R E Y O U?!_ " You were starting to panic, only led to the little skeleton by his sobs of terror. Poor thing was covered in wax and feathers. "Sweet angel, who d i d t h i s  **t o _y o u_**."

"Heh....Prank gone wrong, Agent." King looked down on you two with barely hidden glee at Baby's pain. He deserved it! He had been making a fool out of King for how many weeks now?! "Let him deal with it like a big boy."

You moved from your crouched position besides Baby, bringing your hand up and across King's face in a backhand. It cracked your knuckles and gave them deep gouges, but you would deal with that later. "How  _dare you_. He's in pain. I think he broke his ilium, or at least fractured it. Baby, can you stand? Come here, love. Come here, Mama's got you." You carefully picked Baby up by his knees and back and carried him bridal style. "Go away, King. If you know what's good for you, you will not speak to me for the rest of the day."

"He d-"

" ** _I s a i d g o_**."

He huffed and disappeared. Good, teleport somewhere else, the bitter thought crossed your mind. "Angel, tell me what happened..." You nuzzled his cheekbone and he blushed and looked away.

"I-I...I was gonna prank King..." You rolled your eyes but did not interrupt. "But I heard a n-noise and i-i-it s-spooked me...?" He shifted to nuzzle into your sternum, effectively muffling his tiny sobs of distress.

"Okay, Baby, I've got you." You set him on a nearby plush pillow, probably hundreds of years old but hey? Who was counting these days? "Stay here, okay? I need to dress this-" You gestured to your hand, now dripping blood, "-and I'll be back, okay?" You nuzzled the top of his skull as a gesture of comfort and moved away to find a source of water. Maybe that fountain in the courtyard out back?

Baby waited about ten minutes for you and got impatient. His ilium was throbbing, and he peeked at it, hissing when he saw,  _yep_ , it was cracked. A small chip was in the top, leading to a crack running no more than an inch downward into his pelvis. It hurt and throbbed and he didn't realize he was crying at first, but when he did, he swiped away the tears with the sleeve of his black hoodie. He had to be strong for you. So you wouldn't hurt yourself trying to defend him. No, you were  _his_ Mama, dammit.

Darnit, he mentally corrected himself. You would be so upset if you found out he cussed like that. Besides, he had to practice for whenever you found Paps. Can't have him repeating  _those_ kinds of words, right? Right. Because you  _were_ gonna find Paps, right?

...

...right.

* * *

You sat by the edge of the murky green water and dipped your hand in slowly. The cool glassy surfaced bubbled and rippled under the new pressure and it felt  _so fucking **nice**_. The cold stone on your bare thighs itched but you didn't care. This fountain was a freaking god-send.

You almost didn't hear it over the static buzzing in your ears. Wait...

...it  _was_ the static buzzing in your ears.

" ** _I̡'͜͠l͟͞͏ļ ̧̀f̵̧͡u͡c͘͘͠kì̡ǹg͟͞ k̴͞i̵̸͝l̵l̸ ̸̕͜h̴̕im̡͘..._** "

You hadn't heard that voice in so long that it took you by such surprise you ended up face first in the green water. You pulled your soaking self out and gasped for air. What the actual fucking HELL?!

"I-I thought y-y-you were g-gone for good?!" You felt panic swell up in your chest.

" ** _W̨͏hàt͏̀,̨ ̶̕͢n̷̢͘ót͞ ̀͜e͏v͟͞ę̕ǹ͟͏ á̶ '̀h̶̴͞e͏̢̀l̵l̡͡o̢̧'̢?͠͠_** "

"H.....hello?" Confusion struck you full force and you back up against the nearest wall. Your wet hair clung to your face and water streamed down, masking the tears that spilled out from your fear.

 

" _ **Ḩ̵̛e͟͠h.͡.̧.͘g̡oo̢̢d͏̸ ̢̕ǵ̸ir̷̢l̀. Y̴̶̧où̢̕ ̷ou̡̡̕g͝ht ͢to̧ ̢҉c̀͟o͜͞mę̶ ͡͞p̛͝a̵y m̵̸e̛͘ ̶̕a͟҉ v͢i̡s͜i̵t̸͏.̧͝ ͞͡҉I̵ m̺͍̠̭͒͒ͅis͕̞̦̺͓ͧ̐͆͗̈ͬs̠̥͔͉̄͂ͅ ͖̱̣̍̊ͨͅy̟̮̣̺͊͐͛̄o̮̞̒̏͋̍ȕ͔ͅ.**_ "

 

The hole before you was white. Brighter than the brightest light you have ever seen, radiating energy that outmatched the sun. It was darker than the darkest room. It was every color you could not comprehend with your human eyes. It swallowed you whole.

* * *

King stomped into the house he had first arrived in with anger alight in his soul. He burned with rage, flinging everything his magic touched this way and that. I flew into walls, old appliances, furniture,  _everything_.

He punched a sizeable hole in the wall. That felt a little better.

He didn't like these feelings. It was easier when it was just him and Papyrus against the world. Fuck, now he's crying.  _Great_. He flopped onto the long-unused couch and sighed, throwing a long white sleeved arm over his face. Being here was hard.

He had already hurt you once, and now he's done it again and he  _really didn't want to think about you right now_.

He decided to get up and make some spaghetti, the way his brother used to.

...

After a nap. A well-deserved nap.

* * *

Baby screamed and ran behind another pillar, trying his best to ignore the ache in his pelvis. Tiny skelly feet clacked against the marble after him. A little baritone rang out above the noise.

"i-i just wanna make friends! help me out, i'm lost!"

"G-get away! What are you?!" He scrambled back into a glass display case as the tiny skeleton ran towards him, stopping two feet away from his feet. Speaking of feet, he was only the size of one of Baby's feet.

"i'm just a little skeleton, like you, but...i can't find my human and i'm really scared.  _please help me_." He started to cry and collapsed on the floor.  _Oh geez_.

"Y-you're...not gonna summon another one of those little skull things, are you?" The tiny....tin _ier_...skeleton had shot him with it earlier, probably trying to get Baby's attention, and he  _did not_ want a repeat. That thing stung! Instead of a yes or no, Baby got more little wails and sobs. He leaned forward, stopping only because of the sting in his hip. He hissed and slumped.

"L-listen, as long as you don't hurt or scare me again, I think we'll be fine...Hey, c'mon kiddo, stop cryin'.  _Tibia_ honest, I don't wanna hurt you. Just wanna  _ketchup_ on what's going on here..." He offered a pained smile. The tiny skelly lifted his face  _oh geez it's stained with tears poor thing_. Baby reached out to pick him up gently. "What's your name, little guy? You said something about a human, too? Who are you?"

"s-sans. sans the skeleton. i-i'm looking for ____." He sniffled. "one minute i was in her hair and the next i was swallowed up b-by a black h-hole a-a-and she w-w-was g-gone b-but she promised m-m-me sh-she wouldn't l-l-leave!" He burst into tears again.

"Buddy, Sans must be a popular name, 'cause that's mine, too. And....mom's.....w....wait a minute..." He dropped his hands into his lap and thought on it. There was something fishy going on here. "Hey, come with me. I'm gonna introduce you to Mama Sans. She's a secret agent or something. She can help you!" He grinned widely and picked up the skelly, stuffing him into his hood. He nearly tripped when pain shot down his leg from getting up too fast and putting too much pressure on it.

He began calling your name and wandering.

...

...

...

 

 

 

_**But nobody came.** _

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! It was meta-chan's birthday, then my anniversary, and then I had work forever. Oh my sweet goddess alive so many things happening. My apologies I wasn't able to give y'all a funny april fools chappy. As apology, have some april fooling! Sort of? Mostly angst, actually.
> 
> I think the plot is thickening, might wanna add some water, thin it out a little bit there, buddy.
> 
> Sorry for the lack of digital art, this time, lovelies. I left my tablet pen at Meta's house and so, well, it makes drawing a touch difficult! Again, many thanks to my wonderful reader-chans! All these kudos and bookmarks ohhhhhhh sweet babies I feel loved~ <3


	6. You're Not In This One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, really. You're not.
> 
> But everyone else is~

Snazzy. Super duper snazzy. Black leather jacket, fluffy beige fur lining the hood, red turtleneck, black shorts with a gold stripe to match his canine and socks, red converse. Fuck he looked good. He flicked up his collar. He looked-

"If you continue to look at yourself like that, your vanity will surely overtake your brain- oh wait! It already has." Fell glared at the interruption of him checking himself out.

"Shutup, ya freak. If I wanted your opinion, I woulda asked! Fuckin' cunt." He hooked a clawed finger under the intruder's thin glasses and chucked them across the room. "Noone wants that sissy-ninny bullshit, and if I did, I still wouldn't've asked. Bitch."

"No need for the foul language, Fell. Go downstairs, Ink wanted you. He said it was important. You may, in fact, want to hurry. I suppose Gaster will be back shortly. He merely took the.....Blaster....for a stroll?" He turned and with a wave of his hand, his glasses returned soundly to his skull. His footsteps resounded in the stairwell as he retreated. Fell glared in his direction and turned back to the mirror, unpopping his leather jacket's collar. He was gonna have a great time if that fucking scientist bastard showed back up in  _his_ room that  _he claimed_. His personal sanctuary. The blue walls reflected the midday light just right, giving the room a pretty bright background. His room. All hi-

"Come on, Fell!" The muffled call sounded from below him, in the lower floor. He groaned and rolled his eyes. Ofcourse he wouldn't get a single goddamn moment alone.

When he arrived downstairs, he was unsurprised to see the scientist -RS, Gaster insisted your troupe refer to him as- busying himself with a large folder filled with notes. Smartass showoff, always trying to impress his stupid crush. His hand hovered besides him as he contemplated fucking with the other skeleton. To scramble his work, or not to scramble his work? That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to not be a huge dick, or to take arms -literally- against-

"FELL ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" He rolled his red pupils and leaned his gaze lazily over to his right. There stood Ink, all energy and paint and disgusting optimism. His hand rested on his hip bones, while his foot tapped restlessly on the hardwood on the living room floor.

"Nah." Ink huffed and raised his hands in the air as some sort of silent prayer to  _give him the strength not to **strangle** this idiot_.

"I  _said_ I've got to finish with those maps Gaster requested. Can you  _please_ watch the monitors?" He looked forlorn as Fell shrugged.

"Meh, I guess. Might wanna give me some kind of compensation, first." He winked and Ink narrowed his sockets at him.

"How's this? I  _don't_ tell Gaster you have slacked off and napped at-.....uh...." He brought a hand to his chin. "Wait- ok, yeah. At every sentry duty you've been assigned to!" He nodded in self-satisfaction as Fell's face drew into a tight, frightened smirk. Ink only knew this because it was the same face as his. Only, y'know, less paint and more....sweat. Eugh. Gross.

Fell walked off, grumbling under his breath.

 

"Hey, Ink, could you check the receivers outside? According to the datasheet, unit F-04 is acting up." Ink groaned but complied.

"Whatever you need, Glasses!" That illicted an eye roll. "Oh, please don't forget that Gaster's coming back soon! He's gonna be so mad ifhefindsoutthatIwasslackingoffeventhoughIwasn'tIjust-" Rainbows started forming in his mouth and he choked a little bit.

"Ink, it's quite alright. Go, do what you need to do. Forget about it if it'll be too much trouble." The scientist smiled at the shorter skeleton and turned back to his work. These codes were really....off? But not so much it should cause major alarm. Just enough so that he believed the sensor ought to be double-checked in case a surface creature had nibbled through the wiring  _like last time_.

Ink ran out of the room into the office area. He was gonna get those maps done dangit, he didn't wanna be under the mad boss's glare again.

* * *

Gaster glared across the clearing. He ran a bony hand over the bovine skull of his present company, urging them to remain silent and calm at his side. He watched as a short, peppy skeleton practically danced around a taller, calmer skeleton. More versions? He supposed. The being that was fucking up his void-space kept dumping more and more. He wasn't sure why.

Shit.

Did they notice him?

...

...okay, no, they hadn't. He let out an unneeded breath. He would have to keep tabs on these two. They had appeared earlier, setting RS's sensors ablaze with buzzing and beeping and lines of code that, frankly, Gaster thought ought to be in Wing Dings, but hey, who was he to complain? RS got the job done. More than he could say for most of his other subordinates.

He opened a rip and stepped into the void, his pet following behind. The tail was always tricky to avoid because Blaster had a nasty habit of hovering in the doorway so Gaster could not close it properly in time. He floated through, gaze unwavering past the bright shining star-like timelines hovering around him.

His feet touched on solid ground as they came back into reality, several feet from the broken barrier of Mt. Ebott. He needed to check on Seraphim. Blaster's clawed feet clicked against the stone as Gaster took out a cigarette and lit it. His break was short-lived. Seraphim emerged from the ground reluctantly at first, but with more confidence when he saw little Blaster, tail wagging and tongue lolled out.

"Seraphim. How was the scout looking today?"

The eyes on his wings reacted almost all the same - with confusion, as human souls could not automatically translate Gaster's strange warbling the way magical monsters could. The face of the monster - his own face, but not - twisted into sorrow. "'m sorry, g. the coding got fu- messed up somewhere and the whole underground's still in pieces. didn't see anyone appear above ground, 'n certainly didn't see anyone fall in."

Gaster took another puff of his cigarette, readjusted his jacket, and sighed. "It's alright, can't have a success immediately, right? Anyway, found another two-"

"what?! no, but there's so many of us already!"

"Multiverse wants to shit on us, I guess." The human souls inside of Seraphim cringed. "Got a theory, though. Whatever's dumping us wants to find something- or some _one_." The cigarette dropped and was immediately crushed by a dull Oxford shoe. "Keep an eye out, as always, but especially on the two I found today. One os short, has an ascot and cape, wears shoulder pads and boots, and is blue. The other is tall, wears a hoodie - orange - and also smokes."

"yeah, got it." Seraphim spread his giant wings and took to the skies.

Gaster sighed and waved his hand. Blaster was trying to chase down a squirrel. He really needed to get him a leash.

* * *

King scrubbed at his bones til they felt raw trying to get the stench off of him. This whole land reeked of human.  _Reeked_ of it! He decided the surface would be much better if humans were less....human-like.

He was getting hungry, and he was getting tired. And he was getting both places very fast, much faster than he preferred. He swept his gaze over the townhouses lining the street. Hm.....

He decided to infiltrate a slightly larger one. This one had  _two floors_.  **Woooooo**......

It felt homely and too small and he sighed in relief because dear Asgore he was so tired and it felt just like Home. Or, rather, his home in Home. The one him and Papyrus shared before Paps became a member of the royal guard, and Frisk killed everybody, and Sans was forced to take over the Underground.

...

Anyway.

He forced himself to attempt a shower, but no water came of the faucet. He huffed and collapsed to the floor of the bathroom. He didn't feel the tears at first, but when he noticed them, he literally slapped himself across the face. He was a  _King_! He shouldn't be  _crying_.

It was all just so.....overwhelming.

How long had it been since the black hole swallowed his world up? Three? Four days?

He dared to venture back out into the front yard and embrace the slowly dimming sunlight. His gaze shifted upward and he let out a shriek when a  _fucking dragon flew right across the sky by the mountain_.

He immediately made a small fortress of the home out of loose furniture and appliances.  _Fuck_. He hoped it hadn't seen him.  _Fuck_.  **Fuck**. He didn't want to die and never see his brother again, whom he fought so desperately to keep alive in this past reset.

His hands fumbled when he added the finishing touches to the building. He backed up into the kitchen and sat at the table (which had been nailed to the floor. Why? Humans are weird.) then rested his head in the crooks of his arms. This barely stifled a long sigh. It was getting fairly dark in the house considering the twilight gleam outside. He felt his magic wavering and knew he needed food soon. Upon raiding the kitchen he realized he had food for at least three weeks if he rationed properly.

Oh boy, did he ration. It was about the only rationality he had left. This place was gonna drive him fucking bonkers.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS SPOIL ME TOO MUCH. 9 BOOKMARKS AND 34 KUDOS.
> 
> Thanks again to my lovely reader-chans. I'm thinking about drawing a hispanic-based, thick reader-chan next. Any requests for reader-chans or for drabbles, lemme know. I may have a plot in mind but it's getting more....stew-y that that delicious soup we all love. So please, help a writer out here gaiz.
> 
> Thank you for your beautiful comments! I appreciate y'all from the bottom of my black hole that has taken over the cavity in my chest where my heart should be!!!


	7. hey there buddy chum pal friend buddy pal chum bud friend fella bruther amigo pal buddy friend chummy chum chum pal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i don't mean to be rude my friend pal home slice bread slice dawg but i gotta warn ya if u take one more diddly darn step right there im going to have to diddly darn snap ur neck and wowza wouldn't that be a crummy juncture, huh? do yuo want that? do wish upon yourself to come into physical experience with a crummy juncture? because friend buddy chum friend chum pally pal chum friend if you keep this up well gosh diddly darn i just might have to get not so friendly with u my friendly friend friend pal friend buddy chum pally friend chum buddy...
> 
> Welcome back, reader-chan!

CRACK!

Your body slams into hard earth and you wheeze and gasp for breathe. Your eyes see stars and you vaguely feel nauseous before you taste the bile filling your mouth.  _Ew_.

When you look around, it is exactly nowhere you recognize. A beautiful forest surrounds you. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, there's vomit on your naked body. Shit. Not again. When you get up, you find yourself lacking any strength and quickly tumble back down, heaving on the grass. You are suddenly glad you gave the oranges you had gathered off a tree this morning to your compatriots. You had a habit of doing that; making sure the other two ate before yourself.

You scooted back to lean on a tree and gather your thoughts. Go over the facts, you tell yourself, it will straighten you out.

Fact #1: Whenever you enter the black place, you come out clothes-less. Solution...??? Nothing, unfortunately.

Fact #2: You are covered in vomit. Ew. Solution is to find a source of water, obtain a reasonable amount, then bathe.

Fact #3: You have no idea where you are, but you do know the cardinal directions and it is still daytime.

Fact #4: You can't remember anything from the black place except the odd storyline you just witnessed? Was that some sort of hallucination? Why was King dressed funny? Wait, were there more than one 'King'? Did he have siblings?

Okay, wait, hold up.

Fact #4:  ~~You can't remember anything from the black place except the odd storyline you just witnessed? Was that some sort of hallucination? Why was King dressed funny? Wait, were there more than one 'King'? Did he have siblings?~~  You just watched some weird hallucination story about  _more fucking skeletons_.

Fact #5: The buzzing in your head was oddly quiet. There, but quiet.

Fact #6: You need to find King and Baby.

Okay, head's straight on. Get moving, then.

You got up slowly, mindful of your protesting joints and muscles. The trees swayed with a sudden breeze, bringing the place to life. It filled you with hope, and determination.

* * *

"No, frankly speaking, King Asgore could probably capture at  _least_ sixty humans in 24 minutes, assuming he was using his trident at his full speed of-"

"but that's not possible. he also has a gentle SOUL. you have to factor that in when you're considering his strength. he would only use-"

Baby and Sans continued having their heated argument, sitting patiently on the brick of the fountain. Baby had long since discarded his clothes in favor of dipping his body in the cool dirty water. Sans had sensed void residue in this particular room, and Baby had explained King could teleport, so of course, in his mind, King must have teleported you two somewhere, and were coming back soon. Sans crossed his tiny legs and stared up into the open sky above.

"It doesn't matter what SOUL he has, if his subjects are in danger! When you learn about the WAR in class, the teachers always tell you he was a ruthless soldier who-"

"but he wasn't a soldier, not really. he was on the front lines  _leading_. when he took up on the battlefield, his goal wasn't to FIGHT. it was mercy-"

"Am I interrupting?"

Sans screamed and teleported a meter away from the new voice. Baby leaped out of the water and dove for cover. King snickered at the shenanigans. "Just me. Who's this?" He gestured to the tiniest skeleton, who was now in a protective stance, tiny little hovering bones and Gaster Blasters at the ready. Baby peeked from his hiding place, then got up slowly, carefully covering his pelvic bone in embarrassment. He explained what had happened while dressing himself. Once aquainted, he finally asked King where you were.

King's sockets darkened. "Fuck."

"what?" Sans looked nervously between the two, Baby having lost his pupils at King's reaction. "there somethin i'm missing?"

"Baby, get the bittybones and c'mon. We need to move  **n o w**." Baby choked down a sob and nodded.

Fuck.

* * *

After hours of searching and coming up with nothing, King, Baby, and Bitty were now hovering at the end of the driveway of your property. King had only ever been here once. The last time was when the  _thing_ had attacked you two. Baby had never been and piped up curiously, "Where are we? Why would Mama be here?"

He smiled down at Baby and quietly started walking down the paved path. His feet crunched with every step he took. Three quiet minutes of walking later, he pulled a key from a loose brick in the wall and inserted it into the lock.  _Bingo_. The door swung open with a jerk of the knob. King already had a bone ready in his hand in case something went wrong. Baby gripped the back of King's smock, suddenly aware of how...dead this area sounded. There was an expired box of granola bars on the kitchen counter.

"why's there black marks all over the place?"

"Probably from the dino that attacked Sans and myself." King answered grimly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it had probably tried to nest here when it had attacked.

"Dino?" Oh, right, Sans had never told Baby that story, and King didn't bother to either. Welp.

"Some sort of creature, looked like our blasters, came in and attacked Sans and I when we were hiding out from a storm. This is her old home. Apparently she rented the upper floor from her parents." Baby cooed and started searching the house to 'look for clues'.

He wanted to see your room.

He didn't know King already knew that. King, ofcourse, just chuckled and rolled his eyes. He began calling your name and searching every inch of the building.

Baby raced up the wooden stairs and came to the top floor. There were two options: The door on the left, or the door on the right. There sat in the center of the far wall, what seemed to be an altar of dragons. So Mama was pretty obsessed with dragons, huh? Good to know. He chose the door on the left. The door opened with a loud POP! It startled Bitty, who teleported to the floor behind Baby. After deeming it 'safe' Baby entered the dark room, Bitty following close behind. He found it strange the lights were still working here, when everywhere else they were not.

The room he entered was decorated like a living room, or a game room of sorts. When he turned the corner to the right, he came upon a desk overflowing with costumes and sewing supplies. To his left, around a wall separating the two rooms, was a bedroom of sorts. It was immaculate, save for the collection of costumes hung up neatly along the privacy wall. He heard Bitty grunt and came back into the living room. Bitty was currently attempting to turn the knob to a tall, thin door using a wire hanger.

"Bitty, that won't work, lemme do it." Bitty grunted in frustration and moved back for Baby. He found a walk-in closet with a working sink. Working? What the heck?

"hey, buddy?"

"Hmm..." Baby sat down, wincing again as the action made him brush against the crack in his ilium once more.

"notice anything strange?"

"...Hm?"

" _why can't we hear King anymore_."

* * *

King sighed as the two rushed up the stairs His throat was starting to hurt after more than a few minutes of calling out. He had checked every room of the floor level, basement, and every inch of the 10-acre forest. Last place to look would be upstairs. He was sure the two rascals would have covered that. They would have taken longer than himself to discover all the areas. He teleported to the upper stairs and leaned into the open door on the left. "-...me do it." King smiled to himself and turned around. He decided to (re?)check the room across the floor.

He turned the knob, and was displeased when it merely jiggled in his grasp. He used his magic to break the lock then open the door. Oh well.

He was greeted by the bluest walls he had ever seen. He stepped in the rather large - rather messy - bedroom and took note that this was probably your room. It had movie posters and fine art side-by-side on every wall, a small sitting area with lawn chairs. He chuckled in amusement at those. He also noted the desk built in to the wall, door that clearly led to a bathroom, and tall, thin door that led back into the loft of the library. Through the bathroom was another door, which he would check that out in a minute. This room was you from floor to ceiling.

He flopped onto your bed with a huff and almost dozed off when he heard a terrified Baby call out for him. "I'm in here." He called back. There was a quiet sigh of relief and then soft shuffling footsteps.

"Woooowwww...." King lazily shifted into a more comfortable positi- ooooohhhhh man this bed smelled exactly like you it was so  _nice_. Dammit.

He closed his eye sockets and attempted to nap over the noise of Baby and Bitty sorting through your personal effects.

"Look, here's her computer! It's so weird, it doesn't even run on magic..."

"look at this red turtleneck sweater! was she ever this big?"

"I really like this pictu-OH MY ASGORE LOOK AT THIS ONE!!!"

"you think  _that's_ cool? check  **this** out! she had a TON OF SOCKS WHY."

"Socks? Mama isn't  _that_ scandalo-  **OH**."

King made a mental note to steal that supposed stash of socks and hide it from the two tiny skellys later.

"told you. oh! check out this teleportation ring! doesn't look active. it's missing the component to rematerialize atoms. what's this doing in her closet?"

"Probably trashed it 'cause it didn't work. Look over here! She's got a whole stash of mustard! WHY?!"

"i like this cup. she's got a whole pantry and dish set up on these shelves."

"Why is there like 15 bottles of half-drunk bottles of hot sauce in this mini-fridge?"

King made a second mental note to padlock the mini-fridge.

"check this out! photobook!  _picture_ a world without  _sans_ eras."

"You really didn't  _develop_ that joke enough. It takes practice to  _capture_ the _pun_ fect joke."

" _film_ me in. when did i ask? you no longer get my _photo_ confidence."

They snickered and began flipping through the pictures one-by-one. The first few were just your family and friends. Some candid shots of a basket of fruit and some feet in another.

Bitty stopped dead-silent when they flipped the next page.

It was you.

You were real. You were right here, in this picture. He started sobbing, inconsolable for the time being. For the first time since he got swallowed up and spat out several months ago, not knowing what was happening, or where you went, he had...hope. Real, tangible hope. And he was overwhelmed by it.

He fell asleep in Baby's arms, sobbing and tired.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY I KEEP TAKING SO LONG TO POST CHAPTERS I REALLY WANT TO
> 
> and then i dont
> 
> *literally dies*


	8. Go the Fock to Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is passing out and you are still covered in vomit, you disgusting pig, you. This is probably your sign to get a multiverzal restraining order.

" _But if we sing along~ A little fuckin' louder to our happy song~..._ " You sang to yourself as you scanned the field of yellow flowers. You switched to humming and knelt down to feel the earth. It felt slightly damp, perhaps there was water nearby? The vomit on your chest and face and dried (you estimated) 2 hours ago. You had been picking it off but still a bath would be so fucking nice right now. You felt disgusting. The static in your head had not quieted down for a while and was really starting to bug you, too, so you added that to your list of annoyances.

 

" _ **A͏w̵,̨ ̵n͏o̕҉t͏ ̀͜͞si̷͘n͝ģ̵i̛͡ņ̨g͟ ̴̀f̡͘̕or̀ m͏͜e͡͠͏ ̛a̧̕n̛͟y̴m̛ơr̨e҉́?̸͡**_ "

 

"Oh fucking  _dammit_. Not  **you**." You rolled your eyes and groaned. Of  _course_ that voice was back.

 

" _ **H̸͠e҉͠h̷ ҉̴̛h̢è͏̢h̛ h̷́͜e͜h̶͡. ̴̴͡M̸҉͝e̡!͘͝**_ "

 

You began to cross the field, feet feeling for wet spots and guiding you in the supposed direction of water. "Are we gonna have a real conversation this time, wherein you actually answer my questions, don't disappear, and DON'T scare me?" The buzzing died down for a moment.

 

" _ **.̡̀.̵͘.̨m̢a͏y̸͝b̨͠ę͢.̢͘̕ ̴Ỳǫ̕҉u g̢͡onn͢͠a̴͞ ̀q̧u͏i̶̕͞t̨ ̸͝f͏҉u̵͝c͘k̶͟í̶͏n̷͡͝'̵̨̛ ͠͡͠w̛i͢t̷̨̧h̷͟ ̸̷m͠ý̶ ͡v͟͠͝ơįd̶͢?͢͝**_ "

 

"What the fuck is your void? All I know is every time I hear you, shit goes wrong!" You huffed and crossed your arms defiantly.

 

" _ **Ý̷̴ò̶̶u ͜͡f̵u̵ç͝k̸e̕͡d̛͟ ̶i͘t̵́ ̷͢͝úp ͞ì̵͜n ҉̷̧th̕e̵̢̧ f͏ìr̴͡s̡͢t̀͟ ̶͜p̨l̷ać̛ę̸ ̸w̧͞͞í̢̢t͏h ͢yo̴̡u̡͢r ̨͜F̕Ú̸CK̸͠͝I҉̛̕Ņ̵G̷ ͜M̸̢ ̴͡Ą̶ C̵̢͘ ̷͞H̴͢ ̷͞I̴̶ ͞N ̛́E͝. ̷̧̧Yǫ̷̀u̷ ͢s͡u̢͘͟ck̛͢e̸d̶̨͠ ̧͝ev҉͜er̢͟͠yt̵̢͞h͏̸i̡n̨̨͜g͢ ̡͘͜ì́͠n͘ ͢a̷̛n͝d̨ ͠͠it̶ ̕͡s̶̷͟e̕͢nt͠ ̛͠e̶͞ve͢r̢y͢one͟͜ r̵̀á̴c̛i͘͟n̨g̵͘ ̢̕t̶͜͠h̵͠r̨͢o҉u̢g̴̢̕h̕ ͠MY̵͘ ͠͝V̡͜OĮD͜͡͝.̸̡ ́I̸ ̷̀c̨o͏ưl̸d̷͢ń̶͝'̵͝t͝ d͘͞o̧ ͞a̴n͟y͟҉ţ́h̡͟͜i͠͏̸n̡g a̸͟b̡̕o̢̧̕u͘t ͏͞i҉t͜͠,̡̡̕ ̕a̵͟n̴͞d̨͞͏ ͘͠n̨̕o̵̡w I̶̡ ̛̕͏h͡͡a͡ve͏̸ ͝t҉̢o̷҉ ͝͝fíx͘͜ ̛͟w̕̕h͜a̧̢t Y ̵͝͠O̶̷͡ ̷͏U̡͢ ̵̴̡meş̸s͝e̷͜d ́͏u̷p!**_ "

 

Shit. So that's what happened? "Wait, but the whole point of the machine was to sort out timelines and present them to be selected by hand?" It was meant to separate the timelines and their divergents. From there, your team would have been able to theoretically step through the doorway into a whole different line. It was merely meant to be a doorway into someone else's world. It was supposed to access the multiverse freely.

 

" _ **Th̡͠a̛t҉'̢̡s̢͘ ͝͡nǫ̴t̵ ͏̨h̸̴ow̵ i̴t ̡w̸͜o͏rk̷s̷, ͟͜͏d̷u̸m̢b̧às̢ś.͠͡ ̴̴̀Ẁhy̵̛ d̶̛͡o҉ ̡y̧͝͡ou̸ ̸t̀͘h̨i̴n̵̶͜k ͞h̢u̕m̵͏a̕ńs͜͢͠ ͢͞c̢a̡̡͢n'̸͝t́͞ t̵̛el̡͘eṕo͏̧r̸t҉͏?́ ̷I̷͜͝t'̴s̕̕ ̕t̴͝h̨͝͠e͏ ̀͝s̴̀am̨e̴ ͡҉ć̡o̵̷̢n̨͠c̨̀ep̧t.̢ ̀Y̶o҉̵ù̸͞ ̨̀h̨́a̡͝v͡e҉ ̨t̶͘o̷ ̴h͞a̧̕v͘͟e̷ ̷͠t̶͟h͏̵e҉ ҉̶m̡̕a̵gi̷͢c͘͡a͏̨l҉̡̡ ͢a̴bil͘͢ít҉y͡ ͏t̴̨o͜͝͝ p̴̢a̸͟͜s̨͟s̨͘ ͠͝f̵̸r҉҉e͡è̶l̀y̵̴̕ ̷͢͞th́r͟o͟͞ú̸̢g͘͟h̸̷͞ ̛͡th̴̡̛e ͘͏voi̕͞d̢͜ ̶̧-̢̢̛ ͠th͢͟ę ̷̡s҉p̀͠á͞ḉè̶͡ ̢͏be҉҉̨t͟w͘ee̛͟n ̵s҉̛͟ṕ̸a̶c̡̕e͠s̸̡͝.͝**_ "

 

 _Shit_. "S-so....wait....." When did you sit down? "So....a human can't survive the void, or just can't pass through? Then why was my  _human_ team sucked in?" Was there always black dots around you? Weird. "Why is it just me and a bunch of skeletons here. Were....were they a hallucination?" Why are you looking at the sky?

 

" _ **H̵ù͠m̶̶̡a͡n͞s ̵́c̨͟͜a̵͘͞n҉̶'̧t̵̨ ́͡p̀as̡s̨͡͞ t͡h͟r̀̕͢ou͏̶gḩ̷̡ ͞t̡he ̨̀͜v̸o͏͏id͢ ̛͟ẃi̸t͘ho͝u͞͠t ̸m̸a͘͟g͠͡ì͟c҉͟.̀ ͘Lu̶͡͝c̷͠k͏y҉̢ fó͏ŕ͘͢ ̢yó͢u͜҉, ͡h̴͜ųm̶̨̡an̢͝͝ś ̴̢c̕͠a͠n ̛̀͝a̵b̵͢͠s͢ò̶̷r̡b͜͢ ̷m̸̨o̸͠n̶s̛͠t̸̨͜e͏̢r͢͡ s̸͏ò͏u͘͡ls̴, ͞wh̨͢i̢c̕h̸͟͞ ͏́͞a͏r̷͏e ̢͡m̴̸a̸d̴͝e͘͡ ́of͢ ͟͝m҉͡a̢̨͝g̨̛͞ic̢͜. ̴E̡s͟s̶e͏ń̢t̸̛i͝ą̵͜ll̨y̢͘,̸̡͘ h̷̛u͏̕m͢a͝n͝s c̴a͢n̕ ̛n̸͢a̸tur̷a̴l͏ļy̷ ̸́͝s͟oa̡k ù̧̧p̶͘ ̨̀̕m̷ag̛͜͠i̸̧͢c̕͞.҉ ̕T͞͏h̢͡at̨̨̨'͡s̷͜ ẁ͢h́͢y̸͡ ̷͠y͠҉o̴͞u҉̷͝ ̀҉s̵̢̀u͏ŗv̨iv̷e̶̡d̨.҉͘͢ D̨u͝҉nn͞o a̡͠b̷͘͡ơ͜u̸t͝҉ ̡̡̀t̷̢h͏̵͠e̴͢ ̷re҉̨͝s͡҉t͜ ó͟͢f̀͠ t͏h͟e͜m͠͝͠,̛ ̧̧y̵͜o̷͠u̶͠ w̨e̵re͘ ̶͠t̴h̸͞҉é̷̕ ̢o͞͝n̨̧͘l̢̢y ̵͢ó̵ņ̴͘ę͜ ̵͝͡w̶͘hơ ̡͞I̸ ̢̀c̕a̸u̷͠͡g̨h́t̢҉͘ ́҉t͝ry̷҉͜i̷ņ͟g ̛҉t̸͢ờ ͞t̛òu͟͡c̷͝h͟ ҉t͢҉͞h̵e̡͟͜ ͏̴̕t̵i̷ḿ̛e̕ļ̨͢i̶n̴̷e͡s̴̛̕.̴͢ ̀̕Ḿ̡̢o̸͟r͏̧oǹ͠.͜**_ "

 

You could feel the blackout coming on. That was an improvement, at least.

 

" _ **A̶̶͜n̶͞d̸̷͡ ͢ţ̸h͏̕͝e͝ ͏ś͘ke̢҉̧l̀͘͞e̵t͟o͝n҉͜s͝ ̷͢ar҉҉̀e͟ ̵͡v̧e̕r̛y̷͢͞,҉̴ ͘very̢҉ ̶́r̨͟ęa͘l̴.͡ Í͝n̴͢͡ ̀f̵̀̕ą͞c͘t̢̛͜,̀̀͞ ̸̕d͜i̢p̡̕sh͢i͘t͜͡,̶̡ ̷̕t̕͡h͘e͘y̢ ̴̀͞h̢͢av̷e̢͞ ͞t̴̛͢h̸̛e͏̷ ̵ś̸͜amé͏ ͟͏S̛O͞͡UL͘ ḿ̡ąģ́i҉͠҉c͢ ͏̵ţ̧h̴̸̨aţ̵͢ ̴̛y̨ou̸̸͝ ̧s̷ȩ́em͟͞ ͏̶t̸o͘͡ po͠s̸͏s̨̀ę͘ş͡s̸̛͡.͠ Óņ͡l̸y͟ ̧dìff̴̶e҉̡r͘͜ę̵n̶cȩ̛ ̸̡i̴̢͠s ̕t̷͝h͘͟e̢̕ ͞co̧͟͠l̛͢o͝҉r̴.͏ ́T̷̕͞h̢͡͞e͡y͘͡'҉͡v̡͘e͏̵ a̵̴̴ļl̴̨͝ ̸̀g̸̢͡o̡͝t ̧d̵͢i̛f̸̛f͏é̕r̀e̢͝n̷̢t̡͜͞ ̶̛c̵̀͞o̵̕l͟o̕r͏s̶ ̴o̕f̧ ţh̛ȩ́ ̡͢ş͢a̵̢me͘҉҉ r̢͏a͡in͡҉b̶̸̕ow̨͡ ̶̵͢o͡͝f ̢m͘͡a̵gi̵̶͟c̷.҉̵ ́Y͜҉͞'k͝n̵̡̡o̴w̷͘͟.́ ͏S̵͢i̛̕n̕͜c͞ę ̡̛t͏̸h̷e͝͏y̢͡'r̡͟è̴ ͠͞al̷̷͏l̴͢ ̶M̵̕E͡.̡̕**_ "

 

What? Shit. So all of the skeletons were different versions of whoever you were talking to...and _technically_ each other? Oops, you felt yourself slipping.

 

" _ **S҉̷o̴,̨͜ ̢I͏͘ ̧g̀͏̕ue̕͜ş̵s, al̵͜s͟͝ǫ͝ ̵y̢͜͡o̴u͡.̡̢ ͏̡H͜͠o̴̕͞w ̵f̸ù̸̢c̵k̴͘e͏̡d͝͝҉ ̛͞ư̧͟p̶ ͏i͘͘͡s̀͝͞ ̨́t̨́hà̴t̨?͡ ́͏F̷̀u̕͞c̨҉k̸͜i̵̢ng̀ na̡r̀c҉i̸̕s͘͢s̸̛i̶s̸̴͜t̸.҉̧̛**_ "

 

Shit.

* * *

Baby twitched nervously while drawing a crude picture of you. King was currently attending to Bitty, who had long since passed out. King was pretending everything was okay, for Baby's sake. He didn't want him to worry that you were potentially dead. When he finished bathing and putting the tiny skelly to bed, he moved on to putting Baby down for the night.

Baby did not put up much of a struggle, merely voicing his discontent and clutching the drawing to his chest. King sat with him and attempted to recreate orally one of the stories he would often read to Papyrus to help him sleep. When Baby finally drifted off into slumber, King was left alone with himself.

He went up to your room - the room you had not allowed him to enter before purely out of a desire for privacy. Now he was entering for his own piece of privacy.

He could smell you so strongly in here. He laid down on the bed, burying himself in the pillows. Why were they wet? He pulled his face back and realized-  _oh_. Those were from his tears. Shit, he shouldn't miss you this badly. You were a  _human_.

A  **kind** human. He gave a shaky sigh and got up. Well, he thought back, now was probably the best time to check out the door in the bathroom. Between taking care of Bitty and Baby he hadn't had the time before. His bones clicked against the tiles of the floor. When his knuckles brushed against the cracked paint of the wooden door, he almost jumped at the scratchy noise. Almost. The knob turned with a creak. The door came disjointed from the wall with a loud POP from disuse. It took a great effort to pull it out enough for him to have room to step through. It had probably swollen, having been set next to the shower. He scanned his hands against both sides of the inside walls for a switch.

 _Ah._ There it is. He flicked it on.

Oh sweet Asgore.

That's a miniature replica of the CORE. In the attic.

And himself. In a labcoat.

Okay.

* * *

Frisk, "Sans, look, another human!"

Chara, "What, another human? Really? But it's been nobody but more Sanses in this world since we got here!"

Green, "T-to be fair, we are humans too...we've seen each other..."

Yellow, "We should go save her!"

Sans, "guys, let's calm down and think this through for a second."

Orange, "No, we can't be calm about this! They could be harmful, let's just beat 'em up!"

Light Blue, "Nooo, patience, patience. Besides, what if they wake up? They'll wake up eventually. Right?"

Blue, "They could make a new friend. What if they aren't even human?"

Violet, "Give 'em a chance!"

Chara, "Ew, I think they're naked..."

Sans continued his flight, descending down slowly toward the human body below him. His tail whipped around, giving him better balance. His claws touched the ground, and the rest of his hind paws soon joined. He looked over the human(?) carefully. It seemed to still be breathing. It was definitely naked. Gross. All of his eyes turned away as he reluctantly scooped up the body.

Green, "Oh, good, they're still alive."

Frisk, "Cover up her lady-parts!"

Oh, shit. Sans wasn't used to this weird human anatomy. He pressed her body up into a ball against his chest. Gaster would probably want to see this human. He vaguely wondered if he was gonna try to dissect you. No...maybe? Shit.

He teleported to Snowdin, now with more ERROR beams! Lines of codes strung freely from floor to ceiling and from cave wall to cave wall. Was this their fault, for crashing the program and copying it to make a new world for them to explore?

After teleporting into the house he barely fit into, he went through the ridiculous effort of putting one of his old hoodies on her, washing the dried bile off of her face (and reluctantly, chest), and then placing her comfortably on the couch. He teleported back out and stretched. Man, it was cramped in there.

He teleported out and decided to fly to Gaster's base. His large form formed a six-winged avian shadow on the ground. It probably scared the wildlife, to the little green, red, violet, and yellow souls' chagrin. They were his favorites, due to their MERCY.

He landed on top of a looming building jutting up from the ground. The sign across the face read in large, bold letters, " **USAFB RUCKER SCIENCE CENTER** ". A skeleton skateboarded past him along the ground, and Seraphim scoffed.  _Fresh_. He opted to teleport directly into the large mechanics' workshop several floor underground where most of the collective team worked.

Skeletons. Everywhere. Skeletons for days. Skeletons from every timeline. All collected here. After the collective timelines converged - according to Gaster - they began formulating theories on the hows and whys, and solutions to send everyone home. Seraphim hadn't any need for it, he liked the company. Wasn't this his world anyway? Him and the eight sould residing inside of him, anyway. He towered over the rest, gliding along the cold metal with ease.

" **Where's the boss** **?** " He leaned toward Ink. Ink had been in charge of making sure everyone stayed as they were meant to stay. That meant he kept close tabs on all the Sanses. There were some that had begun to lose their sanity. They were being restrained and retrained for their alternate universes right now. Ink looked up to Seraphim and smiled.

"Who?"

" **Oh my Asgore, Ink. Gaster.** " On second thought, Ink's high energy and low attention span did make it kind of hard to keep up with everyone, so, maybe he should have just asked someone else.

"Oh! Oh, right! Okay, okay okay okay, okay, I think? He's? Uhm. Shoot. Try the void?" Seraphim nodded. That made sense. It was where he usually spent his time to get away from the others. Seraphim opened a portal and pressed his hand into the side.

" **Gaster, I have news. You here?** "

He felt a tap on his leg and turned to find Gaster standing straight behind him. "Yes, what is it that brought you all the way from the mountain, Seraphim?"

Frisk, "Don't tell him about the girl!"

Chara, "Why not?! He can help her!"

Yellow, "She won't stand a chance. He'll just hurt her."

Orange, "Yeah? What if she hurts us first? She deserves whatever comes to her."

Green, "N-no...SAVE her..."

Violet, "Do what you came to do!"

Blue, "Yeah, follow the rules and report already."

Light Blue, "Wait!"

Sans, "Guys, please, she's probably another one of me. Even if she's not, she needs our help."

 

Seraphim took a deep breath.

 

" **I found another one. A human.** "

Gaster stiffened."Well, this should be interesting..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter?! What is this madness?!
> 
> MY READER-CHANS ARE THE BEST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT I just wanna platonically snuggle and smooch all of you. Everyone gets platonic smoochies. Please continue to love me. BTW, I am developing this too much. Anyone wanna interject here? I know you wanna move on with the plot and- please don't throw that potato FINE I'LL FURTHER THE PLOT.
> 
> Writing the part with Seraphim was really hard because I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to differentiate between the different soul-colored children talking. I'm sorry if this method was hard to read, but AO3 wouldn't allow coding for colored text.


	9. The Plot Inspissates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OR DOES IT?! Mostly you just meet more skele-friends.
> 
> OR ARE THEY?! Just kidding, you don't meet anybody.
> 
> OR DO YOU?!
> 
> Welcome back, reader-chans.

_Crunch crunch crunch crunch_. Each step on the rocky gravel path seemed to echo off of the concrete of the ravine around the two skeletons walking next to each other.

 

"did'ya ever hear the one about the dogwood tree?"

"NO, BROTHER! I DID NOT!"

"he was all bark and no bite, nyeh heh heh"

"WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME SO?!"

Papyrus lazily flicked a new cigarette out of a hidden pack in his orange hoodie. "you love it, bro. i can tell by your smile. nyeh"

"THE TRUE QUESTION IS, WHEN  _DON'T_ I SMILE? MWEH HEH HEH HEH!" The shorter skeleton brother did a front flip and stuck a perfect landing while posing dramatically. It was perfect.

"got me, bro. good one." He lit his new cigarette and patted Sans's head affectionately. "wanna head up the stairs over there leading outta here? i'm pretty sure there aren't gonna be anymore people down here."

"HM...WE COULD ALWAYS TURN BACK? THE ONE FELLOW SEEMED NICE! HE WAS COLORFUL! MWEH HEH." Sans skipped circled around Papyrus, who lazily took a drag from his cigarette, flicking the ash off to the side easily.

"nyeh, not really. he kinda wigged me out. too much color, and he was kinda hard to understand. he's probably already gone, anyway. he had wheels, we don't. let's just head up here. maybe we can find some taco stuff?" He pulled his older brother up onto his back piggy-back style and slouched for better balance. "that sound good?"

Sans squealed. "TACOOOOOOS!!!" This brought a chuckle from Papyrus. He could always count on his bro to remain cheerful. He probably realized how dire the situation was, but being the optimist that he is, didn't really seem to mind. Paps could live with that. Some careful climbing and extended walking brought the two to the center of town, a once-bustling attraction for (probably) many people. However, now it was a ghost-town. The whole place was destroyed either by time or by the giant gaping holes in the buildings from Gaster Blaster blasts (he assumed). He hadn't seen the mania of it himself, but he knew what damage a Gaster Blaster could do.

He shifted Sans's smaller body and shuffled inside of a looming marble building. He let his brother down slowly as they stared in awe. The entry lobby held a large replica of a bony animal. "PAPYRUS!!! IT'S AN ANIMAL US!!!" Sans ran straight toward it and immediately tripped and fell. Papyrus teleported to him in a panic.

"bro, you okay?"

"y-yeah...uhm..." Sans trembled in pain, clutching his knee. "n-no? it's okay, brother..." He looked around to see what he had tripped on. Papyrus gingerly tested his brother's bruised knee while Sans picked up the offending object which caused his fall. He immediately brightened. "BROTHER! IT IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CREATURE!"

Papyrus smiled nervously, worried more about his brother's patella and ribs than the inscripted metal plaque. "what's it say, bro?"

"'TYRANNOSAURUS REX - A LARGE, CARNIVOROUS DINOSAUR THAT WALKED ON TWO LEGS. ITS NAME IS FROM THE GREEK WORDS MEANING “TYRANT” AND “LIZARD” AND THE LATIN WORD FOR “KING.”' IT SOUNDS BOTH DANGEROUS AND COOL!" Sans winced when Papyrus touched a tender spot. Bruised, but not broken, he noted. Paps nodded in approval.

"sounds like he had a  _bone_ to pick, there."

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING?!"

"its what i do."  _Wink_.

Sans rolled his eyes and sighed, getting up. "I'M GOING TO EXPLORE, BROTHER! I SHALL BE SEARCHING THIS ARTIFACT COLLECTIVE FOR A DISPLAY ON CULINARY PERFECTION! MWEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Sans hopped out of the room.

Then hopped back in to add, "HEH!" Then hopped back out.

Papyrus chuckled again and replaced the plaque onto what he assumed to be its previous stand. He also began to explore, but he was checking for danger. He took note of several things, all seemingly disconnected, but he was sure it was not.

Thing #1: A pile of feathers layed stuck inside of a blob of....candle wax? A bowl lay nearby, upside-down.

Thing #2: What was obviously a chipped off piece of bone lay near this pile.

Thing #3: That ancient pillow looked used. Recently used. Mostly because of the giant butt-indent in the center. It kinda reminded him of Sans's butt-print.

Thing #4: There was an ominous feeling coming from further into the building? Or out of? Papyrus would have to investigate.

He headed further in, following in his brother's footsteps. He could hear the gentle echoing scuffle of Sans's boots against the tile of the floor a lot further in. He decided it couldn't hurt to leave him alone for a bit, so long as he could still hear him. He shuffled down a long hallway displaying artworks of the renaissance. He enjoyed the ones with the depiction of 'death'. It looked like Sans's head on Papyrus's body, which made him laugh. He couldn't imagine Sans ever acting anything like his boring younger brother.

He passed by some exhibit on 'Chinese sculptures' whatever the hell that is, and walked outside. It was a fairly pretty garden, if not overgrown. The fountain in the center had green water and plenty of algae. It also had a rip into the void right next to it.

 _Joy_.

 

And it was about then that Sans screamed bloody murder.

* * *

_Okay_. So. There is...a....scientist. Locked in the attic. Asking to be let out. Saying he is starving and hasn't been out in what  _he thinks_ is two weeks. In a cooped up blistering hot attic. With an even hotter mini-CORE.

How is King supposed to believe him when he says he doesn't mean any harm?

Baby stands next to him, worrying with a bright blue jacket he found. He says it smells like you. On him, it is four sizes too big, but he still wears it. "He says he's hungry.....and hot....."

"Baby, your heart is too big for your head, just like the Agent. He could be dangerous, we just don't know." He pressed his skull to the door, listening for the scientist's shuffling. Was he crying? Ah, fuck.

"i don't think he's much of a threat, buddy.  _attic_ he just needs our help."

"Yeah! He might be under  _attic_."

King rolled his eyes. The two little skellies laughed and threw more attic puns at each other to King's dismay. "FINE. Fine. But if he kills all of us, it's  _your_ fault." He creaked the door open. Although, creak might not be the correct term, considering it had to pop open with some effort. He looked inside and flicked the switch on again. There was the skeleton in question, lying down next to the CORE and gasping.

Well, guess that answers that question.

"I.....c-couldn't get.......the door open...." He was heaving and gasping for air, still pleading with King.

"doesn't look like much of a threat, buddy." Baby nodded in agreement to Bitty's statement.

King stepped forth into the hot cramped attic. Damn, it really was terrible in here. "How long have you been in here, scientist?"

"'m not...s....sure.....two weeks?" He crawled toward the door, with Baby's help. King nodded sagely. It would make sense. The scientist's HP had lowered by .3 and his magic was wavering. "My given n-name in this....world i-is...R.S. Please, I-I do not......I do not wish you harm, please j-just.....help...." He passed out in the threshold to the bathroom, the swell of cool air overtaking his senses and forcing him into sleep.

"Baby, take him to the bed and retrieve him some water. Bitty, keep a cool, damp towel on his forehead. That is an order, go!" Baby and Bitty scrambled to obey him. King rolled his eyes and turned back to the CORE. If his hypothesis were correct, this machine would be the cause of this building being the only one in the whole town which still had working faculties. He would ask the sci-...R.S. to explain it to him when he awoke. For now he'd explore the machine himself.

It seemed similar enough to the regular CORE in the Underground. However, there was no magma with which to power it so....what was it working off of? The hoses and wires connecting it to various electric boxes and generators answered how it was powering individual factors of the house itself, but not where all the power was coming from. Perhaps there was a source inside? His hands hovered and tapped and scratched relentlessly at the metal plates, searching for a panel or switchboard of sorts. When his search yielded nothing, he sighed and sat on the floor next to the CORE. It was a real skull-scratcher, this one. Heh, he'd have to tell that one to you.

Shit, you.

His SOUL plummeted when he thought about you. Where were you? Were you safe? Were you hurt? He wanted to know, he  _had_ to know...

* * *

Dreams are an odd sort of thing.

You lie in special ritual clothing, horizontally, for approximately eight hours at a time, hallucinating vividly.

That's all you could chalk what the fuck your brain just came up with to anyway: a hallucination.

You got sucked into the black place, with all the stars. It was beautiful, and bright, and dark, and every color, and no color all at once. Kinda made your head hurt, to be quite honest. There was another person. No-

There was a skeleton. He was....crying? And he had a friend, who reminded you of a rabbit. A black rabbit. But not? Or, maybe something out of a video game. And he had a tall, dark skeleton, with sharp, sharp teeth. And....golly, gee Mr. Wilson, now that you think about it this guy had a  _lot_ of scary friends. But they weren't really there, not  _really_. You think he mentioned they all existed at once, but not where you were, and he said the name of the black place, but thinking back you can't really make out what he said.

He also mentioned that at that point in space-time you didn't exist. But that wouldn't make sense because you know you exist. Gods, or lack there-of, you were fucking  ** _confused as fuck_**.

You don't remember what you two did between that conversation and ending up in your next dream, but you remember falling.

Then you were in a field of pretty flowers, naked. And a dragon was flying towards you. You don't remember doing acid, but that's the only explanation you have for why you were hallucinating being with a crying skeleton in a large expanse of nothingness, then falling into a field of flowers, naked, and being rescued by a dragon.

You cracked an eye open.

Well this was different.

You laid on an old, kind of stale-smelling, green couch. It resided on the lower floor of a two-story house, from what you could see. Did King take you somewhere? You peeked down at yourself, and were unpleasantly surprised to find yourself in nothing but a worn blue hoodie. Didn't you leave this at your house? When you felt around you noticed you were naked underneath it.

...

Did.....

Did you fuck King or something?

...

Shit, you hope not. It would make it truly awkward, not only for your not having remembered the events, but also for you not having any sort of feelings for him......

...

...right?

...

Right. Anyway.

You swung your legs down to the floor, and heaved yourself up into a standing position with little effo-oh, woah, okay, make that a LOT of effort. Welp, now you're falling back on the couch. Okay. Dizziness wins this time, but next time, you'll win for sure! You sighed.

It didn't take TOO much more effort to reclaim your standing position. You shook off the feeling of being watched and made your way into the kitchen. You stomach was protesting, assuring your destruction if you did not remedy its ache soon. After digging through the various cabinets and the fridge (why is this cabinet filled with bones? Why is the fridge filled with spaghetti? Why are there chips in the FRIDGE of all places?) you conclude you are SOL and just need to suck it up and eat the suspiciously sparkly gooey noodle mess inside one of the  **many** containers.

While you heat up the spaghetti (made by THE GREAT PAPYRUS! MASTER SPAGHETTIORE! NOTE - NOT YET A MASTER SPAGHETTIORE) you munch on the chisps (you correct yourself from your former assumption that they were chips) and allow your thoughts to truly wander for the first time in two months. Was this NOT YET A MASTER SPAGHETTIORE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS anything like  _your_ Papyrus?

Papyrus was not related to you, but she was the closest thing to a sister you had ever had. Her real name was lost to the ages, but her agency-given name stuck to your brain like glue. You had to use it in everything. She may as well have changed it to Papyrus the moment she joined your team. Her specific job was Biological Research, and how living things were affected by the Spaghettification of black holes.

The microwave dinged.

You dug in.

Might as well enjoy this (gross) spaghetti while you had a little bit of peace and quiet, right?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay away from the museum, it gives people boo-boos.
> 
> Thank you so so so soooooo much for your continued support! And understanding!!! I know a few requests were attached to the last chapter that got deleted, but don't worry, I have them noted and written down. To the Reader-chan who asked about what con I'm going to, a few lower alabama ones and d*con in atlanta. And to The Awkward One, thank you for that request and including a vivid description of him! I have the details written down, no worries.


	10. It's Never Easy, Is It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is actually a stress monkey. "You" are in some Sans timelines but not others.
> 
> EDIT: Didn't realize I had already named Fell Sans Fell when I wrote this chappie, and accidentally wrote Red instead, my bad guys. I've been reading too manyt yummy fics lately. OOPS.

You had long since finished your spaghetti and were now rifling through the clothing left in this abode for something that fit. You found a comfy room with plenty of clothes! All....way too big for you. You tried the locked room to no avail. By this point you had all but given up on trying to wear anything different from what you currently had on, which was....not much. Just your old hoodie.

You were a little freaked out, however, when you took it off briefly to check it over and found "Sans" written on the tag. You hadn't even become "Sans" when you last remember having this hoodie.

After searching the house, and enjoying the cozy little details that clearly made it a "home" you decided to leave. When you walked out, however, you were surprised to see it was nighttime. How long had you been out? Not the first time it's happened, but still. It was freezing, and when wearing nothing but a hoodie, it feels even colder. You dive back inside and shut yourself in from the frozen wasteland behind you. Whoops, better look outside a window next time you decide to pull a stunt like GOING OUTSIDE. You sort of thought you saw more buildings outside when you looked, however, so you figured it couldn't hurt to try to layer up before heading back out.

Back inside the cozy room, you found a pair of shorts about your size. No shoes your size, though. Just boots. This red scarf ought to do nicely, too, you noted. With a twinge of pain, you shoved down the sudden reminder of your co-worker and her love of scarves.

You did, in the end, pull on the boots which were at least two sizes too big. Better to use 'em if you got 'em. You just had to layer on some scarves wrapped around your feet. Why didn't this person own any socks? There was only one sock in the house so far, and it was downstairs on the floor with a hilarious line-up of sticky notes attached to it.

When you were safely bundled up (Why do these boots go up so high? You can barely bend your knees!) you chanced the outside again. It was a lost less frosty with oversized clothes wrapping your body in fluffy warmth. Mmmmmm toasty. The air was oddly stale for it snowing right now. Shouldn't it be crisp? Your boots crunched loudly with each step. The buildings grew more clear with each step as well. The oddly dense fog and black waterfalls made it hard to distinguish them, though.

You finally made it to a cozy little building with a "Closed for Good" sign in the window, and an un-lit neon sign above that says "Grillbys". You moved along, not wanting to intrude. The next building was an Inn/Shop. The shop had a little sign,too, and this one read "Gone to the surface, be back NEVER!" Weird. The surface of the building? Was the Surface a vacation spot? Were you in some weird foreign country? You knew you could occasionally teleport, but this was just ridiculous.

You were able to get into the Inn, but nothing and nobody were there. As in there was no furniture and one lone note sat on the tile floor. It read the same as the other two. Did everyone in this tiny town all go on vacation at once?! You went back outside.

Something shiny and yellow caught your eye beside you. This was odd. It seemed to be hidden by one of the black waterfalls from the sky. You got close enough to almost touch it and noticed something weird. It was just a waterfall all right.

A waterfall of ERROR messages.

 

" ** _D̨͞͠o͘ņ̀'̵́t̵̵͝ d͟͜o ̶i̶̛t͏͡,͏͏ p̡̕͠ŗ͜ęt҉͏t҉̀y g̶̨i̡̛rl.͜.._** "

 

"Yeah? Why not?" Your hand drifted an inch closer to the waterfall in defiance. This voice was causing you problem after problem and you were not about to let it  **win**.

 

" _ **Do͢͝ ̵̛y͢ou͡ ́͞w̷͢a̷̡n̵͜n͟a̢͘ ́̕p҉a̕͢y̷̶ ̛̛m̷̴̀e ̷̧̀a̡ ̴̵v͢is̡͜͜i͞t ͏͟ag͞a̧͏i҉̕n̡̢?̶ ̕I ̴d̷̢o̸n͟͏'̷̸̢t̨́ ̢͘thi̡͏nḱ ͞͏y͝ou̵͜ ḑ̸͘o.̷͢͝ ̡͡Ỳ̵͡o͏u̢͡ŗ̸ ̨́p͠h̶͟ý̷s҉̸̕ì̡c͞͡a͘l ̷f҉́͟o̶̢̕rm̢̧ ͢w̴o̡̧ul͟͞d ̧͡͝t̶̕͢u̵ŕ̶n ̷͟͜i͜n҉̕͏t̢o͡ co͜͢di͘͘͢ņ̛͘g̕͡҉ fo̕r m̧ȩ ̡͢͝t҉͢o̷̸ ̧͡p̢̧̨l̸̡҉a͡y̛ w͘i͢th̵͝͡ ̛a̢͢s̶͏̷ ̵I͡ ̷̛ś̸ee ͝f̨́͟i͝͠t̸̛͘.̕**_ "

 

Shit.

 

" _ **D̡ó̷ ̀̀y̡o̧̧̕u͟͡ ̸w̷a̢͟n̴̴t̕͝ ̴̀͠t̴͏h̸̕̕a̕t͘͝,̶̨͟ ̸hu͏̢m̷͠a̧͘n̶̨?̴**_ "

 

No...

Your hand retreated. You turned away. The voice returned to the quiet incessant buzzing you so know and love. You returned to the house.

* * *

Baby doesn't tell King certain things.

He doesn't tell him about hoarding your books, because he wanted to know what you read. To his utter pleasure, it was realistic sci-fi and fantasy. And romance, but he didn't bother with  _those_. And some comic books and joke books!

He doesn't tell him about your pretty dresses he hid in the far back of your closet so noone would remove or touch them. They were yours. They were yours and he would protect them with all his might.

 

He doesn't tell King about your phone.

 

He doesn't tell him about the "crying" Sans's ominous messages.

 

He doesn't tell him about the corrupted data on the phone, giving each message a glitched feel. Each picture a nightmarish look. Each sound a haunting quality.

 

Baby went over the private files hidden in a folder in the back of your phone. They didn't make any sense to him, but he wanted to understand what exactly was happening to you. You had long since disappeared and he couldn't feel you. It was no surprise, since you weren't his birth mother, nor were you - he audibly shudders - his  _mate_. That would be gross and weird.

He keeps reading and re-reading them. Each one was more confusing than the last. Timeline theory? Dimensional warp-space? Time travel paradox? What? It was making his head hurt, but he had to know where you were. Why you were here. Why any of them were here. R.S. stirred, and Baby quickly shoved your phone into his pocket.

"Uhhnn.....ugh....h-hello...?" He blearily opened his eyes, resting the bright pupils on Bitty first, who was napping soundly on the pillow next to his head. He grunted and shoved his body up to sit with a grunt. "Wh-where.....where am I?"

Baby grinned. "You're in Mama's room! King's in the attic with the machine thing and Bitty is...well." He gestured. The little skelly did not move. "There you go."

R.S. rubbed his head in thought. "I am still alive?"

"Y-......yes....?" Baby wasn't sure how to respond.

"Ah...Yes...Good....Ahem." He slid out of the bed, careful not to jostle the small skeleton. "I should probably gather my things and go, then. I have to find Gaster and report my findings on the base, plus not to mention escort you three to the new base. There's so much data. I didn't even think there could  _be_ a King version, nor a shrunken version. Where did I place that clipboard at...? Oh, I have to go back in and get-"

"Sit." He sat. "Good. Alright, catch me up. What are you doing here, scientist? What is a Conversion Operator Regional Energizer doing in this house?" King glowered at R. S. who shrunk under his glare. He squealed and fell back against the wall when a trident stopped short of his face. " ** _WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT GASTER?_** "

"E-ehm...w-well....uh...." He chuckled nervously. "He's my boss...?"

* * *

 

Gaster was getting too old for this shit.

"ARE YA ANTI-JOKE OR JUST A FUCKTARD?! Cuz last I checked we happen to LIKE jokes, ya fuckin' retard! PLUS dead baby jokes are fuckin' HILARIOUS!" Fell threw a pan at AntiSans' head.

He dodged with ease and retorted, "You're the retard, if anything, fuckwad. That shit isn't funny, and I'd appreciate you not breathing in my direction, thanks." He huffed and turned, black jacket fluttering as he teleported out.

"Ooooohhhh no ya don't, little fucker. I'm gonna sett-"

"Fell. Report." Gaster moved forth from his shady corner of the kitchen.

"Eep! S-sorry, Boss...Uh, the Tweedle brothers are lookin' for the human girl you mentioned. They found her tracks as far as the edge of town where that big field o' golden flowers are before they spotted me and I had to dash. I-if you don't mind my askin'...eh....w-why can't we just...approach 'em?"

Gaster took a long drag of his cigarette. "Because Papyrus is there. None of the other ones have shown up. Something is going on. That's why."

"R-right! I knew that! I-I just wanted to make sure you knew that, Boss. Right as ever-"

"Did they find the Underground where Seraphim stays?"

Fell glanced down and away, grinding his teeth. "Well, uh....I-I don't know, actually...." He shifted from one foot to the other, flinching at every breath Gaster took. He didn't want to end up on the wrong side of his anger.

".......what do I even keep you around for?" He rolled his eyes and turned, teleporting out.

Fell deflated, glad he wasn't beaten within an inch of his 10 HP life, but also sad to disappoint the Boss. This operation was the only thing getting him closer to finding his true Boss. Papyrus. He heaved a sigh.

Then an orange shoe met his face.

Anti was gonna fucking  _get his shit wrecked_.

* * *

 

Papyrus had never run so fast in his life. In fact, he was probably not even running. Had he paused to take a moment, he might even think he were flying.

His only pause came when he found Sans just inside of a spacious garden. "SANS?!" He ran straight to his side, where he was curled up on the ground.

Oh.

He was fine. Papyrus crouched beside Sans, who sat crossed legged on the cobblestone patio.

"LOOK WHAT I FOUND, DEAR BROTHER! MWEH HEH HEH!" In his gloved palm was a green flower barrette. "I CAN SMELL THE HUMAN ON IT! THE _____ HUMAN!"

Well, he was right, it certainly smelled like you. But you've never worn a flower in your hair before...? It's always been the same striped sweater, cargo shorts, and bandage. Never a flower. "...you think she's here, sans?"

"I THINK SO, YES! LET'S GO FIND HER!" He had already hopped up, speeding around the building back to the main road before Papyrus had time to register they were on the chase. He caught up easily, lazily teleporting every hundred meters or so, with Sans running along, leading the way. He caught sight of Mount Ebott. It still loomed in the distance, it's presence ever a reminder of what monsters had to go through for hundreds of years. he shook the feeling of dread growing in the pit of his ribcage.

"PAPYRUS, I SEE A DRAGON. LOOK!" He screeched to a halt and pointed in the distance toward the mountain. Yep, there it was. A small shadow against a blue sky, definitely of the winged lizard variety. "DO YOU THINK IT'S LIKE THOSE OTHER DRAGONS WHO TAKE DAMSELS IN DISTRESS, FROM THE FAIRY TALES YOU READ ME?" He looked up to Papyrus. "MWOO HOO HOO......DO YOU THINK HE TOOK....."

"only one way to find out, right, brother? quit _dragon_ and let's go rescue her." Papyrus chuckled and strolled forward as Sans growled and stamped his feet.

"YOU AREN'T FUNNY, PAPYRUS!" He took the lead again, easily strolling past Papyrus, with his easy-going pace.

Papyrus wasn't feeling very easy-going, however. Ever since they left the museum, he felt as though they were being watched. Was it that skateboarder again...? He kicked some rocks to the side and pondered. What was that skateboarder talking about, anyway? It all sounded like jibberish. Sans stopped suddenly. "bro? you alright?"

"PAPYRUS, LOOK..." Sans bent down at a small puddle of black water. Papyrus joined him, peering cautiously over his shoulder. It almost looked like alphabet soup, but made of inky black goop. Were those even letters in there...?

 _Snap_.

Papyrus hefted Sans a good ten feet away from the noise. "who's there?" Something shifted in the woods around them, then in the air, and any noise coming from the source of the snap was gone. He growled half to himself, carefully setting his small brother on the ground. "sans, follow close to me." They continued on, a note of caution in every careful step they took. After a few turns and dips, they came upon a field of wild golden flowers. Sans brightened up, recounting the flower he used to talk to in the underground, and how the flowers Queen Toriel cared for always looked so perfect and well-loved. Papyrus listened, the tension in his bony shoulders not easing up as he watched the dragon figure hover over the peak of the mountain. They got closer with every step. Closer to another clue to you, closer to danger of the dragon, closer to finding a way home....

Why are things never easy...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONCE UPON A TIME I WAS WRITING A FIC. BUT NOW I'M ONLY WRITING SOME DICK. THERE'S NOTHIN I CAN DO IT'S A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE...uh....fic?
> 
> I AM SO SORRY. My laptop that I was using took a huuuuuuuge crap and dumped ALL OF MY WORK FOR THE NEXT THREE CHAPTERS. I got a new one (obviously) but it took me some serious courage mustering to get my motivation back for this fic after all that progress I lost. Again, I am beyond sorry loves.
> 
> Wow, so this fic was supposed to be reader x sans, but it's turning out to be sans vs. the world. Oops. Promise it's just a slow burn. You can see that apparently Sans is a tsundere. Yes, I do mean every sans. Even you. wake me up WAKE ME UP INSIDE okay i wrote these notes first but i'll get back to writing the fic now.....


	11. We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fell gives us some back story. R.S. gives us some more back story. We see our favorite character. You guessed right! Baby! You also don't appear in this one.

Fell shifted from one foot to the other. Seraphim watched him from atop his perch on the cave entrance.

" **.....You going in or...?** " He yawned widely. It was nap time. To be fair, all the time was nap time, but it was still nap time regardless. The little souls inside of him protested and agreed accordingly. Frisk spoke up above the rest.

Frisk, "Just shove him in!"

His tail whipped down and stabbed the Earth where Fell was just standing. He reappeared a few yards closer to the entrance. "....J-just....just don't like goin' in there's all. Last we saw that blasta' of Boss's, it was runnin' here. That thing does oodles'a damage. Would'a helped if it damaged the fuckin' attackers on the base before we had to move, but-"

" **Just go in already!** "

Fell rolled his eyes and grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets then sulking inside. It was cold in here. Colder than his world, even. He didn't admit he didn't want to go in because of how it reminded him of his 'verse. It was all blood and guts and glory and it was  _so much work_. His task was to check on the human girl. Was she gonna be short like him? Or tall like Boss? Was she gonna be nice like Blue, or mean like his brother? Was she gonna be different because she was a girl? Or was she gonna be into science and physics and the like? Seraphim said there hadn't been anything on her when she showed up out of the hole into the Nothing that had appeared. Why was she coming from the Nothing? Why not the Void?

The elevator in Hotland dinged, awaiting his arrival.

The ride was slow and jerky from years of misuse. It creaked and groaned with every inch, finally resting with a soft clunk and hiss at the bottom of the shaft. He was going to step out when a large black line shot across the entrance, suddenly. He shot a wall of bones up for protection while jumping back in defense. When he realized it wasn't attacking him - nor going away - he let the wall down.

He simply ducked under it and continued on, mildly concerned now about the sheer amount of them. Were these  _his_?

Error's?

Just the name itself sent shivers down his back. Ink knew Error personally, from long before any of them were even old enough to understand the concept of multi-verses. He had explained to their (at the time) small band of skeletons that Error had one goal, and one only - to destroy all anomalies. Ink went on, explaining that the first Sans to have been brought into existence was so consumed with grief after the first Genocide Run he had gone insane, desperately clawing to find a re-do to his timeline. Things had gone awry and he ended up restarting his timeline, thinking everything was okay, only to discover he didn't fix his timeline.

He destroyed it, replacing it with his own optical illusion.

He found he had accidentally destroyed all of his universe, shoving it into his own body the way he remembered it, making in untraceable - never to be retrieved or replicated. He stayed in what is now known as the Nothing for a length of time unfathomable to any creature who hasn't lived it. One day, Sans found stars. He had thought he was in space for a minute, until he realized each of these stars held a different picture.

As time went on, Sans grieved more and more, having discovered these stars were all different universes - ones he couldn't be a part of - but all of his people, of  _him_. He finally snapped and began trying to control them, to live through them. He found when he went into one, though, he could manipulate the very lives of those he intruded upon. He could even destroy them, if he chose.

Ink had discovered him not long after, becoming what he had thought was friends with Error. That was a (heh) error on his part. Error saw that Ink helped to create and moderate the Sanses. Error wanted to annihilate them. If he couldn't live happily, no one else could. He was the first - and the last - Sans. When Ink discovered this, he tried to put a lock on the Nothing - the Void. It was the final separation from the Nothing Ink thought to trap Sans inside. As further defence, he also pulled the timelines into the Void. Error could no longer visit the physical timelines and worlds. He could still come to the Void and control them, however. Ink could do no more to save them.

Fell shook himself from his thoughts. Error was trying desperately to control this timeline now, in a last ditch effort to destroy all the existing Sanses. Nothing he could do but help Gaster fight back. He smirked. What was some rip-off of his father going to do anyway? It was just another version of himself that had gotten the data corrupted on his file, allowing the Void to fill his timeline. If anything, he was the  _last_ person they should be following.What a fuckup, he thought, allowing his timeline to get corrupted. He ignored the nagging voice that reminded him he fucked up in his own line, too. How when the kid almost had the barrier open, Sans realized his whole world would've changed and they might actually die out in the cruel human world. How he had  _killed Frisk where they stood_. How his brother began to reach for him.

How the black hole opened up above them and took them all.

 _How he failed and his brother's last words were that he wished Fell was dead_.

Oh, look. Snowdin.

His pupils came back to his hollow and dark eye sockets. Welp, time to meet the human.

* * *

"So this house acted as a base until it got attacked by...?" King quirked an eyebrow.

"Shadow beings. Most of them looked like our - well, er, separately ofcourse - but - uh, basically our friends. From the different timelines. Which is what the CORE was for! As I've explained-"

King cut R.S. off, "For the sensors located all over the property, which could be monitored yadayada...Where are you located now?"

"W-w-w-well, I-I don't actually...uhm....know? You see, we were supplying magic into the CORE since there are only trace amounts of it in this timeline. I was up there tending to it when the attack began. Fell - another  _ahem_ colleague - shut me inside and yelled for me to stay put. I did as long as I could, but then the heat from the CORE became unbearable and I couldn't support it any longer. I felt my magic begin to drain and I started blacking out. I'm lucky you came when you did, actually. You may have very well saved my life!" He nodded in satisfaction and set his elbows on the table, hands resting under his chin.

"Were you there last time we were?"

"Well, uhm...I don't know that either. I sort of went into a, how would you put it? A coma?" He shurgged and leaned back, a sigh leaving his lips. "If we can get the CORE running again, I can read back the information on the sensors to find out who has come and gone from the property and in which direction. I feel this is the best way to locate my missing company. And yours, as well."

King did not allow himself to be surprised or upset. He already hypothesized - correctly - that the timelines were converging. This merely proved his hypothesis correct. "Let's do it, then."

They traversed upstairs, stopping only to tell Baby to go outside. Apparently if the CORE was given too much power all at once it could actually explode. Not that King cared about you or anything, he just didn't want to hear you nag him because he allowed Baby to become injured. Right? Right.

Bitty, however, insisted he could be of help. R.S. agreed, seeing as Bitty could fit easily into the small compartments of the machine. After three or four hours of non-stop fiddling and false starts, they finally got the machine where it would start up properly. Hopefully.

3.....R.S.'s hand hovered over the ignition key.

2........Bitty held a loose wire in place.

1.........King monitored the sensor screen, black currently.

...

The machine started quietly- oops, spoke too soon. Bitty shot across the room with a particularly violent electric shock, hitting R.S. in the chest and falling into his shirt pocket.

"Are you alright?!" R.S. peered inside of his lab coat, panicked as all hell. Bitty shakily lifted a thumbs-up.

King sighed and began reading out the sensor's readings. They were all live except for a few on the very edge of the property. R.S. came over and began reading as well. Baby came up and peeked inside. "Need any help...?"

"No, babybones. Go back outside." King shooed him without looking up.

"But it's already dark and it's scary....." Shit. King resignedly turned and ushered him over. He happily joined the three. "What're you doing?"

"The previously established sensors along Agent's property can tell us maybe where R.S. and even the agent might have went. Wanna help? We're reading the old scans." Baby nodded happily and plucked up a string of datasheets.

"Wait, guys....if those are sensors, can't we just use them to ping further out? Like a sonar?" Baby looked up at them curiously.

R.S. couldn't have been more proud of the younger version if he tried.

* * *

He watched quietly. He growled low in his throat. He pulled a blue string.

She turned her head, glancing around. His buzzing in her head grew softer. He wanted to watch her, not alarm her. After unsuccessfully guiding her back into the Void, he almost gave up twice. She was him, but different, almost like she wasn't really him.

She came from a universe in which there was no magic. Mt. Ebott was just another mountain in her world. She made the mistake of colliding her non-magical existence with his magical one. It was almost as if everything in his existence was not in hers. There was no magic, he was a she, timelines were only a theory...

Her world was so safe. Why did she want to fuck that up?

She was a fucking enigma to him.

"Error." He turned and looked blankly at the the dark behind himself.

 

" _ **P̳̪̳̺̻̳̒̉̐̂̃ͤ͢a̧͙͋̆̎p̟̰̺̱̈͋̎͐̓y̫͓̝͋̌͜r͓̈̋u̥̍ͭ̾̓͝ͅͅs̍̾̆̓ͫͥ.̠͈̦̗̰͘**_ " It was what he had dubbed the "Outertale" version. He stood a little hunched. The blue lines surrounding his limbs were slack. For now.

 

"The others are getting antsy...I wanted to know when we were going to be returned home...?" He ground his teeth, nervousness setting in. Error chuckled lightly.

 

" _ **S͓ͤ͐̈́ͪͨ̀̋o̖̺̓̂͛ͧo̼ͦ̊̾n̺͙̪͖͕̿,̹̮̪̻͖̠͂ͥ̇̐̎̚ͅ ͔̺̘̙̘͑̾ͩ̑̓̉̚b̛̙͕͉ͣ͛ͥrͭ͊̎ͨo͎̩̠͞.̡͓̙̙̏̌͋͗͛͌ͤ ̲̦̬̘̳̭͉̽̊̅̀Sͬ͌͋͛ͤ҉̭̜̤̜o̴͈̦ͩͅo̧̼̗̠͇̩ͣ̃n̬̿ͭͅ.͙͕̖̫͉̟̜̍͂̓̎̉͘**_ "

 

He turned back, one hand grasping gently at the star he could never enter. He stroked it lovingly, remembered the way you screamed for him, how sweet your skin was. He'd have it again.

Soon.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOP WOOP CHICKEN SOUP this took me two days to remember where I was going with it and re-write it. SHIT'S HEATIN' UP OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CRAP.
> 
> Dearest Reader-chans, if you had to pick your favorite Sans, who would it be? This affects the story, so comment away! Only one, my loves. Out of aaaaaaaalllll dimensions.


	12. How About We Don't and Say We Did?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ink is your friend, okay? He's a precious baby and you just don't know it yet. Papyrus takes Sans around the Cave of Wonders. King, Bitty, Baby, and R.S. begin their journey to you.

Welp.

"Hello, yet another Sans."

He shifted nervously underneath your gaze. You bare knees were getting cold. He had just knocked on the door, but refused to come in.

"H....h-hey, sweetheart." Fuck, you were kinda pretty. Fuck. "Boss wants ya. Gotta come with me." He regained his composure and puffed himself up in an attempt to appear bigger.

"No, thanks." Awkward.

"Uh-" He faltered. "B-but aint it cold for a little doll all by yourself down here?" He smirked, surely having you cornered.

"Down here? Like....on the bottom floor? Where there's heating? Nope. Unless you keep letting out the hot air, that is." You rolled your eyes and began to shut the door in his face. He quickly moved to stop it. "What, you comin' in or not?" He looked resigned, but submitted and entered the house.

Now that you got a good view of him, you noticed the little things alike to Baby that there were. "Name's Fell." He had a black hoodie, but this one wore leather. "Toucan found ya all alone in a field of flowers."He also had a false gold tooth in place of his left canine, converse in place of bare feet, and a dog collar. "Brought you back here, cleaned ya up, and now ya gotta see the Boss." And a Jersey accent?

"Huh?" Whoops. Got caught checking him out.

He rolled his eyes and sat on the lumpy green couch. "Listen, sweetheart. I don't dish the orders, I just take 'em. Now, I want this to be as pleasant as possible for you, since you're so cute 'n all. C'mere and I'll take us outta the Underground to our base where you'll be nice and safe." He patted his lap and spread his femurs, like you were going to cozy up to him just like that.

"No thanks." You huffed and turned to the kitchen, fully intent on waiting it out til he left. He didn't look like good news, and on top of that you didn't know who "Boss" was. Besides, you still had to find King and Baby. He snarled and began to follow you. You became alarmed and ducked out of the way of his outstretched hands.

When he passed by you, tumbling ungracefully into the kitchen, that's when he smelled it. Or, more specifically, you. You smelled like....like the old base. He rolled over, only to find you over him with a pot poised to strike.

"That was your house, wasn't it?" He smirked when the pot lowered slightly at your surprise. "I can get ya back there, y'know. Thing is, ya gotta work with me first."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" You raised the pot once again. If anything, he relaxed back on his elbows as though begging you to do it.

"Oh,  _sweetheart_." He pulled out a very familiar pair of footy socks that most definitely belonged to you, as they were in your favorite color. "You know  _just_ what I'm talking about." The pot clattered to the floor.

He took this opportunity to use his magic to slam you down, effectively burying you in his chest. He used the momentum to fly through the Void and onto a table. The residents at said table jumped at the sudden company. You lifted your head, saw the socks, and grabbed for them. He held them further from your grasp.

"FELL!  _STOP TORTURING THE HUMAN_."

All movement stopped. Well, in your immediate vicinity, anyway. Everyone else in the room didn't stop what they were doing.

 **SHIT. EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM IS A FUCKING SKELETON** **.**

In your stupor over these new and suddenly overwhelming events, you didn't feel yourself being pulled gently to your feet. Someone was talking to you. Who? You felt black at the edges of your vision.

"...-st breathe. Breathe, it'll be okay." A glorious smile overtook your immediate vision. "Are you okay now? Will you be okay?" Skeletal hands rested under your chin and around your shoulder as the person led you from the room. The edgy skeleton was no longer pestering you, so that was an improvement, at least. "Sorry about Fell, he does that - kinda scares people I mean. Well, scares everyone but I mean who doesn't he scare yknow cuz that'ssortofhisthinghelikestoscarepeopleIknowhescaredmeatf-" His grip slowly tightened on your shoulder and left your chin. Why are there rainbows on the floor?

"....A-are.....are you okay?" You dared a glance at him. Yikes, did he PUKE rainbows?!

He shook his head and hastily wiped away the rainbow drool. "S-sorry, what?"

What? You had both stopped walking, maybe trying to figure the other out. Well, he was trying to re-track his train of thought, but you were trying to figure him out. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds. You finally coughed to break it. "A-anyway...uhm...thanks for the save back there....I guess? Can....can I go back to the house now? I don't like not knowing where I am, and I'm kinda trying to find someone important to me. T-two someones, actually."

"Oh! Uhm, actually, no, sorry ma'am...Error might've gotten you if we left you Underground any longer. It's kinda why we didn't stay, to be honest. He has this bad habit of finding something he doesn't understand and trying to either destroy it or make it his own and I honestly don'tundertsanditImeanhecouldtechnicallyjustmakehisownwholelit-"

"You are dismissed." A new voice called from around a dark corner a few feet ahead of you two. The adorable skeleton - who you just now noticed has a giant paintbrush? What the hell? - bowed deeply and waved you off with a giant smile and a promise of a return for a tour of "the Base and everything".

You turned back to the deep commanding voice and gulped. This was gonna be fun - _not_.

* * *

Papyrus needed some honey and a good, long nap.

His dear older brother was currently holding a civilized conversation with a dragon. He caught snippets here and there. Why are holding the princess hostage? What are you doing by a cave and not a castle? What do you mean 'the princess is in another castle'? Okay, but seriously why a cave?

He took the opportunity to teleport inside the cave while his brother had the (skeleton...? human soul eating skeleton...?) distracted. It wasn't too different from the Underground of his universe. This one was a little too...crude? He hovered further inside, still keeping his brother in sight, but so he wouldn't be noticed as having entered. He found the door which would lead to the final hall before exiting the Underground. If he came through here, he knew he could either go left to see the coffins of the children the Queen murdered, or he could go right to the throne room. He glanced back. His brother seemed frustrated, and he could hear a chuckle from the dragon.

When his brother caught his eye, he gestured for Sans to follow him. He cheerfully bid farewell to the surprisingly polite dragon and bounded over. Was the dragon used to guests? He led his brother in and told him to wait in the throne room. He did so happily, leaving Papyrus to his own devices. He turned and descended the stairs to his left. His soul grew heavy with each step, but he felt obligated to give his respects to the children who had to give their lives for this universe. Was there no universe in which they were safe? He rounded the corner and laid his ha-

Where are the coffins?

He figured they must have been moved above ground by the humans, which had obviously been here, even if they weren't now. He shrugged and began his ascent. No point in freaking out about it. If they had been moved by the humans, they would have already gotten the respects they earned paid to them.

He caught up with Sans easily. After looking about the throne room, he concluded that the place hadn't been touched in potential decades. Well, except for the installation of a single black pillar in the side of the room. Or is that a waterfall? Eh, not his problem. Sans was already exploring eagerly. He grinned and followed him.

There were the occasional random black pillars, but other than those, the Underground was basically untouched, potentially for decades now. Good.

He averted his eyes in the Hall of Judgement.

Finally, they exited through Asgore's Home and into the Core. Papyrus noted how it was dimmer than usual. It ran off of geothermal energy, sure. But it also ran off of the collective love, compassion, and magic of the monster populace. At the moment, he figured it had to be running at a little less than 40%. If left without magic and care for too long, it would begin to break down. He could see where portions of metal had begun to pop and peel upward in a quiet escape from the heat. Sans practically dragged him through NTT's resort.

Or...not? Sans and Papyrus both stood baffled. What is an 'MTT'?

They shuffled out, and through Hotland. Those black pillars are literally everywhere. He didn't allow Sans to touch, or even go near them. He saw the inky black goop from before was the same as these waterfalls. They also reeked of magic. They reeked of the Void.

As they passed each location, Papyrus noted every single minute detail down to the layers of dust. This place was overgrown and untouched, but still had Void Magic. What was going on here? Sans seemed eager to find their house, having realized at the start what this place was, and wanting to get to his racecar bed.

Papyrus averted his eyes at the True Lab's entrance.

They sloshed through Waterfall, which seemed a bit more flooded this time around. He had Sans stay put as He went and checked on Flowey Village. It seemed untouched, too. Good, the Floweys deserved freedom just as much as everyone else. He hoped they got the 'cool leg' they wanted.

He even checked the shop. They had already packed up. There was even a note, which read "sO sorr!!! be BAk SoooooOOOOONz z z!!! or NeBeRz?..." So he figured they must have made it to the surface. That gave him some relief.

When they passed, he even checked Doggo's store. It was the same as always, but also had a note about never coming back. There were more black waterfalls here, too, and they were blocking out the crystals on the ceiling.

Finally they arrived in Snowdin. Sans immediately made a run for their house, giddily jumping up and down, all over the place. Papyrus was uneasy about the sheer amount of black void goop. He decided to browse the perimeter first.

He averted his eyes at the entrance to his secret lab.

His brother was already upstairs, shuffling about in his room. The house itself felt...off? It felt like they didn't really live here, not really. The wheels began turning in his mind, and it finally clicked for Papyrus that this must be one of the other version's world. Well, there goes his idea of reconfiguring the time machine downstairs and simply going backwards in time. Now he had to actual  _put effort_ into  _travelling_ the  _timelines_.

 ** _Uuuuuuuugggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh_**.

He would have to spend the majority of the next two hours convincing Sans, no he's not crazy; this is, but isn't their house. He heaved a great sigh and wondered again why things could never be easy.

* * *

Bitty teleported as fast as he could through the overgrown woodscape that inhabited your backyard. He would only stop to tweak the occasional sensor, moving on to the next one. His mission was to fix them so the giant ping they send would definitely detect you. It would use up the final power in the mini CORE but it would catch onto your SOUL wave and show them your exact location within a 30 mile radius. His tiny bony hands were small and agile enough he could easily get inside the small black sticks that jutted here and there and camouflaged surprisingly well into their environment.

The little skeleton finally slowed when he mentally counted out the  _exactly 54_ (yes, he heard you the first twelve times, R.S.) sensors. Yes, he had gone and fixed every single one there was. He could finally teleport back.

Meanwhile, Baby was happily joining R.S. in a small game of checkers to pass the time. There was nothing they could do until Bitty got back. King reclined in the opposite room, the one with the bed and costumes. He held in his hands a pair of your socks. He tried to ignore the sweat pouring off of his skull, and the bunched fabric around his femurs. Shakily, he got up and slipped the socks into his pocket.

T-t-to return to y-you later, o-ofcourse!

He shifted across the room, fixed his tunic, and opened the door. It popped loudly, alerting the other two of his return.

"Find anything good?" Baby called from his seat on the Attic floor. "We found a chessboard while you were out scouting!" King sighed and squared his shoulders, and shook his head.

R.S. gave him shifty eyes. "You sure, bud? You seem kind of jarred- OOH KING ME!" Click click clack, and Baby whined and placed a discarded checker on top of R.S.'s. King had jumped at his sudden outburst but crossed his shoulders and didn't allow it to show.

"...'m fine. Bitty should be back soon. Quit playing around." He glowered at the other two.

"You're always so  _peasant_ to be around, King. It's no wonder you've had no luck  _court_ ing Mama! She's really  _throne_ you for a loop, hasn't she?" Baby snickered while King had a miniature meltdown.

Bitty happened to pop in at that moment. "guys!" All three startled and jumped at least two feet in the air. This was nothing new, but Bitty thought it was still funny to watch. "i finished." He chuckled and teleported to Baby's shoulder, where he grabbed onto the soft fur and nestled into the hood. Soft skelly, warm skelly, little bag of bones.

King, having shaken himself, returned to the business at hand, R.S. close at his heels. This meant they could finally ping for your location! King felt....

He felt....

Determined.

R.S. typed out a complex series of commands, while King stepped back and forth, adjusting knobs and levers, levels of cooling for the CORE, while feeding his own magic in. Baby was monitoring the screens, writing down every sensor's readings in the Language of Hands.

"Are you ready?!" R.S. typed out a final line of code, waiting for the royal's order. King nodded, and turned to Baby.

"Let's find our Agent, kid." Baby smiled wide. Huh, King thought, what a funny time to notice he has a tooth missing.

Even Bitty was ready.

"Let's do this!" Baby shouted, as King turned a key into place and R.S. entered the code. The room erupted with white light, shining outward into the world.

After a few blinding moments, Baby saw it. He saw you. Your pretty soul, hovering on the screen. Its exact location were mapped in longitude and latitude beneath it in neat print. R.S. and King blinked away the light in their eyes and looked at Baby, who stood awestruck. The screen began fading and Baby panicked. He couldn't get his hands to stop shaking.

"Baby, write it down! Quickly, please!" R.S. dived towards him, aiming to catch the dropping pencil from his hand. He scrambled to get the paper away too and looked up in time to see it.

The screen had gone blank.

King slammed his hands on the desk top and screamed. She had gotten away! Just like that! She was  **gone**. He lashed out, angry and scared beyond all belief. "HOW COULD YOU?!" He roared in Baby's direction. "YOU HAD  **ONE JOB**.  _ **J U S T   O N E**_." He raised his hand and magic slowly gathered in his left eye. "I-I....we.....we were....so c-close..."

Baby squealed and hid his face in R.S.'s coat. "S-stop it, King, you're scaring him!"

" _ **i   d o n ' t   g i v e   a   s i n g l e   f u c k   w h a t   i ' m   d o i n g .**_ " A pure white bone surrounded in purple light hovered by his hand, ready to strike with deadly aim. "....she's....she's gone....you stupid child, how....how COULD you?" He shuffled closer, each step brought R.S.'s guard up more.

King barely heard a peep by his ear before he felt a familiar sting. He slapped the side of his face and squished something very hard against his cheek. When he pulled his hand away, he saw why it was familiar. It was a tiny Gaster Blaster.

"i-i've been t-t-tryin' to get your a-attention for a f-f-few minutes n-now..." A tiny voice found him looking at his shoulder. Bitty looked up at him, trembling. "i-i-i g-g......i g-g-got it..." He quaked with nervous sobs, and held a tiny piece of paper up for King to read. "i wrote i-it down. p-p-please d-don't kill Baby...?"

King clutched his head, sending Bitty teleporting away as fast as he could.

He...he had almost....over you...shit. Shit shit shit. He didn't mean to!

"I-I know..." baby whispered. Had he said that part out loud. "W-we all wanna find her. Please don't be m-m-mad at m-meeee!" He wailed and flung himself into King's chest. He barely registered his own tears before he collapsed to the floor, holding the sobbing skeleton. He whispered a croaked how he could never be mad at him, he was just scared. They were all scared. He didn't mean to. He was sorry.

They unanimously agreed that recouping and starting fresh in the morning was probably the best idea.

Baby and King spent the night held tight onto one another.

It was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting oh-so-patiently for this chapter, Reader-chans!!! Sorry it took a week, but I've been kinda stuck. I didn't want it to move too fast (since we're kinda barreling through this plot omfg) but I didn't wanna make a screeching stop either...Anyway, I hope this is a good middle ground.
> 
> Also, question, should I post smut for this fic on the side for my readers who aren't necessarily comfortable with a fem!reader with female parts? Or readers who aren't comfortable with sex? I was gonna include a little crack scene about Kind strugglin' hard with his...er...."feelings". But decided not to on account of I don't wanna make y'all uncomfortable...Tell me what you think in the comments below, please!
> 
> So the poll in the last chappie affects basically who's gonna be your Base-bud. Everyone needs a Base-bud! Any final thoughts on who they want to be their Base-bud before we delve into chapter 13? Or is Ink the winner of Base-bud status? Final votes dearest Reader-chans!


	13. A/N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick update since it's been over a month...

Hello Reader-chans! First of all, I am deeply sorry. I know I said updates should be more regular now that that con was over, but then I got surprised that I was going to Dragoncon up in Atlanta. Woo! Exciting! Except it took time away from literally everything I enjoy doing (one of which being writing this fic).

So! That's what this update is about, letting y'all know that updates should be picking up now that there's no more forseeable distractions. I'm pretty excited to get back to my hobby, and even more excited to continue this amazing journey with all of you.

Ahem...

So I'm going to leave this A/N in the story this time because I also wanted to let old and new Reader-chans know about our upcoming companion series - [Fantasies of Our Time](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7810417).

There's obviously at least one chapter in there (tw:rape) which you probably shouldn't read if you're under the age of 18, intolerant of rape or non-con elements, and in general if you don't like smut. Please enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, among my other smut fics.

Alright, I think that about covers everything, right? Awesome. Okay, if you have any questions go ahead and post in the comments below. If your question is "When's the next chappie, Mamuzel?" Your answer is gonna be a solid shrug. Shrug shrug bugaboo.

Oh! I wanna go ahead and give a shoutout to all my Reader-chans, everyone who's left kudos, everyone who's left ideas on this story, and everyone who's sticking with me so far! I notice you guys, I really do. Your support makes me feel like shit enough that i shit out another chapter for you to feast on. I have no idea why you guys like my writing but HEY I'M NOT GONNA ARGUE. I'm semi-kidding guys. You are a huge inspiration for me and I love all of you. I notice you, I really do.

Back to the grind, Agents!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! thanks for reading! So, basically, this is a collection of drabbles. Some can be requests (please, i encourage them!) within this post-apocalyptic world that you find yourself in. You are sans. Everyone is sans. Sans Sans. Sans the human cuz yknow why nOT. My skele-love knows no bounds. Ok, anyway, updates are irregular because i follow what my muse tells me. Provide feedback, provide inspiration. Smut is also a welcome request but may not happen for a while. Thank you my lovelies! All sanses will be attributed to their creators accordingly and if I miss any, please lemme know!
> 
> Agent Sans - me @ my brain  
> Error Sans - Loverofpiggies @ tumblr  
> King Sans - Themetaclown @ tumblr  
> Seraphim Sans - TratserEnoyreve @ deviantart  
> GB!Sans - Abadtime @ tumblr  
> Babybones Sans - me @ my brain  
> Bittybones Sans - Bittersweetdeath @ archiveofourown  
> Underfell Sans & Papyrus - Underfell @ tumblr  
> Scientist Sans - Yamiaainferno @ reddit  
> Inktale Sans - Comyet @ tumblr  
> Gaster Sans - Borurou @ tumblr  
> Underswap Sans & Papyrus - popcornpr1nce @ tumblr  
> Underfresh Sans - Loverofpiggies @ tumblr  
> Underdarkness Sans - ZzNightmaregirlzZ @ deviantart  
> AntiTale Sans - The Awkward One @ AO3  
> Outertale Papyrus - 2mi127 @ tumblr


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